This report was produced within the scope of the research project entitled Support and Opposition to Migration in Portugal and describes the evolution of the legal framework for the integration of immigrants in Portugal. It covers the period between 1995 and 2014 and draws on the framework provided by the Migration Integration Policy Project (MIPEX), which evaluates migrants’ opportunities to participate in European societies.
For the purpose of this report, MIPEX 2007 was employed as a reference framework. It utilises 140 indicators across six policy areas, in which an index allows for the measurement of Portugal’s proximity to the best practices defined by current legislation at the European Union (EU) level.
MIPEX indicators were collected for the years 1995, 2000 and 20041 , while MIPEX data was used for the years 2007, 2011 and 2012.
MIPEX analyses the following policy strands: labour market status, family reunion, long-term residence, political participation, access to nationality and antidiscrimination policies. Within each policy area, each indicator is given a score along a three point-scale of 0, 50 and 100 (which reflects alignment with best practice). Each policy area contains different dimensions (e.g. the labour market access policy area contains the dimensions of eligibility, labour market integration measures, security of employment, and rights associated with status). The score of the policy strands is the result of the average of the scores reached in each dimension.
