Newcomer integration in Europe: Best practices

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and the Freedom and Solidarity Foundation (BSF) are holding an event and a discussion to launch their latest publication on the topic of refugee reception. We are happy to be able to share our findings with you and to exchange more on this important topic.

As we are reflecting on experiences of the European Union on refugee reception in the past years, it is important to promote exchange of experience and cross-fertilisation among European Union member states in order to succeed in the integration efforts aimed at the newly arrived. It is through exchange of experiences, best practices and knowledge that EU countries can increase their unity in responding to similar challenges.

Therefore, the task of this collection of expert articles was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences that have already been developed in a number of European countries, as well as to share innovations developed in member states that are forming a comprehensive integration policy for refugees for the first time.

In a broader sense, this collection of articles sets forward to, first, demonstrate diverse approaches used in EU member states which have led to successful integration of newcomers; second, to enable better exchange between experts in migrant and refugee integration in the member states; third, to raise awareness in the broader public about the importance of effective and comprehensive integration programmes, that aims at fostering integration without undermining the social cohesion of the receiving communities; and, fourth, to advocate for a genuine European solidarity in order to ensure the existence of such programmes.

We invite you to a presentation of the collection of articles “Newcomer Integration in Europe: Best Practices and Innovations since 2015” during which the experience of three countries will be illustrated.