Latest blog articles

SMECC stands for School, Minimum standard, Education, Child-friendly policy and care-Continuum. Imagine SMECC as a flat drawing of a house. The regulatory backstop is the minimum standard in family litigation for competent parenthood – far on the horizon, however, a necessary fundament of human...

Mobility and good public transport prove to be essential requirements for an attractive (border) region. Establishes ITEM-PhD candidate Julia Reinold in an interview with EurekaRail.

Stimulating cross-border labour mobility? Provide an adequate supply of information, uniformity in laws and regulations, language education and infrastructure, suggests 'ontgrenzer' Martin Unfried in an interview with EurekaRail.

Asylum seekers usually do not cross borders with a bag of documents. They have lost their personal belongings or have been confiscated by smugglers. Oral statements are therefore the only proof of origin. ^{(Dutch only)} 

The increased flow of asylum applicants and migrants to the EU in recent years has not only put considerable pressure on the reception systems of Member States, but at the same time raises challenges regarding the integration of newcomers at the national and local level.

The 30%-facility is regularly discussed in both case-law and politics. The facility is currently under pressure and facing turbulent times. With a potential abolition, which may become reality, particular attention must be paid to the effects and possible alternatives. This blog is only available in...

How diverse is Dutch science? According to a majority in the Second Chamber, perhaps not quite diverse. Last week, the Chamber adopted a motion that calls upon the government to clarify whether Dutch university staff is made up too much homogeneous. ^{(Dutch only)}

I am sure you have heard that the Bulgarian government built a fence on the Bulgarian – Turkish border and that the ‘refugee crisis’ put the national asylum system to the test. What about the Bulgarian integration policies? Did you know that currently refugees in Bulgaria face ‘zero’ integration...

Two prominent issues on the agenda of European equality lawyers have so far largely (although see recently CJ C-83/14 Nikolova) remained outside scrutiny of the Court of Justice of the European Union: discrimination on grounds of religion or belief and segregation of Roma. Recent developments may...

The 2015 Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX)   update highlights and confirms the shift towards a restrictive migration and integration policy in the Netherlands. Overall, the Netherlands dropped to the eleventh place in the MIPEX ranking, down from the fifth in 2010.