METHODOLOGY
How does MIPEX decide the scores?
167 INDICATORS
8 POLICY AREAS
3 OPTIONS
There are 167 policy indicators on migrant integration in the MIPEX. These have been designed to benchmark current laws and policies against the highest standards through consultations with top scholars and institutions using and conducting comparative research in their area of expertise.
A policy indicator is a question relating to a specific policy component of one of the 8 policy areas. For each answer, there are 3 options. The maximum of 3 points is awarded when policies meet the highest standards for equal treatment.
Within each of the 8 policy areas, the indicator scores are averaged together to give one of 4 dimension scores which examine the same aspect of policy. The 4 dimension scores are then averaged together to give the policy area score for each of the 8 policy areas per country which, averaged together one more time, lead to the overall scores for each country. In order to make rankings and comparisons, the initial 1, 2, 3 scale is converted into a 0, 50, 100 scale for dimensions and policy areas, where 100% is the top score.
What does MIPEX measure?
Legal frameworks to promote integration
MIPEX measures policies that promote integration in all societies. Integration in both social and civic terms rests on the concept of equal opportunities for all. In socio-economic terms, migrants must have equal opportunities to lead just as dignified, independent and active lives as the rest of the population. In civic terms, all residents can commit themselves to mutual rights and responsibilities on the basis of equality.
When migrants feel secure, confident and welcome, they are able to invest in their new country of residence and make valued contributions to society. Over time, migrants can take up more opportunities to participate, more rights, more responsibilities and, if they wish, full national citizenship.
The process of integration is specific to the needs and abilities of each individual and each local community. Although government policy is only one of a number of factors which affects integration, it is vital because it sets the legal and political framework within which other aspects of integration occur. The state can strive to remove obstacles and achieve equal outcomes and equal membership by investing in the active participation of all, the exercise of comparable rights and responsibilities and the acquisition of intercultural competences.
A regular monitoring exercise
MIPEX aims to be a regular assessment on a widening range of policy areas, critical to a migrant's opportunities to integrate, where countries can benefit from benchmarking policies to the highest, newest international standards. This edition focuses on eight policy areas: Labour Market Mobility, Family Reunion, Education, Political Participation, Long-term Residence, Access to Nationality, Anti-discrimination and Health. A number of policy areas cut across the MIPEX strands, such as integration programmes and healthcare and housing.
What are the highest standards used by MIPEX?
For each of the 8 policy areas: labour market mobility, family reunion, education, political participation, long-term residence, access to nationality, anti-discrimination and health, MIPEX identifies the highest European and international standards aimed at achieving equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for all residents. The European Union work programme 2010-2014 on Freedom, Security and Justice re-confirmed: ‘The objective of granting comparable rights, responsibilities and opportunities for all is at the core of European cooperation on integration.’ The highest standards are drawn from Council of Europe Conventions or European Union Directives. Where there are only minimum standards, European-wide policy recommendations are used.
Sources of MIPEX equality standards
- Europe -
- Tampere European Council Presidency Conclusions, 15 and 16 October 1999
- Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association and the Migration Policy Group, The Amsterdam Proposals: Proposed Directive on Admission of migrants, 2000
- EC Directive on the right to family reunification, 2003/86 of 22 September 2003
- Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association and the Migration Policy Group, The Amsterdam Proposals: Proposed Directive on family reunion, 2000
- EC Directive on the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents, 2003/109 of 25 November 2003
- EC Directive on the right of citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, 2004/38 of 29 April 2004
- Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association and the Migration Policy Group, The Amsterdam Proposals: Proposed Directive on long-term residents, 2000
- EC Council Conclusions of 26 November 2009 on the education of children with a migrant background 2009/C 301/07
- Council Directive 77/486/EEC of 25 July 1977 on the education of the children of migrant workers
- Council of Europe, Convention on the participation of foreigners in public life at local level, 1992
- Gsir, Sonia and Martiniello, Marco, Local Consultative Bodies for foreign residents – a handbook (Council of Europe; Strasbourg 2004)
- Council of Europe, European Convention on Nationality, 1997
- Bauboeck, R. et al. (eds.) “Evaluation and Recommendations” in “The Acquisition and Loss of Nationality in 15 EU Member States” (Amsterdam University Press; Amsterdam, 2006)
- Starting Line Group, Proposals for legislative measures to combat racism and to promote equal rights in the European Union, 1998
- Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, 2000/43 of 29 June 2000
- Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, 2000/78 or 27 November 2000
Sources of MIPEX equality standards
- International -
- UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (IESCR)
- UN International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
- UN International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and the Members of Their Families
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
- UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education
- ILO Convention No. 97 of 1949 on Migration for Employment
- ILO Convention No. 143 of 1979 on Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions)
- ILO Multilateral Framework on Labour Migration: Non-binding principles and guidelines for a rights-based approach to labour migration
The research process
The scientific partners for each strand reviewed the previous MIPEX III indicators to guarantee that they were clearly worded, policy-relevant, and sustainable for future updating. With the final review of the indicators among the scientific partners, MPG approved the final list of 167 indicators.
The indicators were completed by the national experts and anonymously double-checked by peer reviewers. The new health strand was completed by a separate set of migrant health policy experts and only for 2014. MPG’s central research staff checked both the experts’ and peer reviewers’ responses to guarantee that they properly understood the questions and answered them in a consistent manner as in other countries.
In each country there were a handful of questions where expert and peer reviewer disagreed. The MPG central research team mediated an anonymous discussion between the two in order to obtain the correct response based on publically-available data and legal texts.
The finalised data for the 38 countries was inputted and analysed centrally by the CIDOB and MPG team. The CIDOB and MPG team were able to write up national country profiles. They focused on recent policy changes and investigated the justifications and potential impact of these changes. The results were also written up for each of the eight policy strands as well as for the overall score.
38 COUNTRIES
4 CONTINENTS
167 INDICATORS
Policy outcomes and effectiveness
In order to monitor policy outcomes, the research team designed a set of international indicators of immigrant integration. The EU integration indicators were taken as the starting point for this and adapted accordingly in order to determine the key outcome indicators in the 8 policy areas, with a focus on the various specific target groups of the policies being measure by MIPEX. In the same way, real and potential beneficiary indicators were designed to quantify the share of immigrants potentially eligible or affected by a given policy for the 8 areas of integration. A discussing meeting was organised with EU-level stakeholders to discuss the use of integration indicators in policy debates and solicit their views on the MIPEX Outcome and Beneficiary indicators for their work. The indicators were calculated using harmonised microdata sets allowing for cross-country comparisons across all 8 strands.
The evaluation research consists of an extensive and systematic literature review on integration policy effectiveness research in different policy areas in the EU as well as some other major immigration countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. In cooperation with evaluation experts in each country, we got access to studies on integration policy evaluation that applied high quality quantitative research methods. We developed a database giving a thorough summary of the studies, and based on this database, we analysed which integration policies and programs succeed or fail under what conditions.
Policy outcomes and effectiveness
A Directive is a European Community law which Member States must pass into their national legislation. This process - known as ‘transposition’ - gives national authorities the freedom to decide the exact form and methods of the law, as long as it clearly meets the aims of the Directive.
This is particularly the case with Directives on migration, which contain numerous derogations and flexible wording. MIPEX does not monitor transposition itself, but rather the implementation of the highest standards sometimes found within relevant Directives on migration.