EU Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stepped into the Italy’s ongoing debate on naturalisation and ius soli reform in support of the country’s integration minister, Cécile Kyenge. Malmström welcomed broader dialogue since access to nationality contributes to immigrant integration, but refrained from taking a position since national citizenship is not an EU competence under the Treaties.
For more, read the publications from ‘Access to Citizenship and its Impact on Immigrant Integration’, a recent EIF-funded research with the EUDO-Citizenship consortium run out of the European University Institute. A Handbook on the research results for Italy is available for policy-makers and practitioners in English and in Italian. Learn more about immigrants’ experiences and problems with naturalisation in Italy by reading the Immigrant Citizens Survey, another MPG collaborative project. See the EUDO-Citizenship website for more on Italy’s citizenship laws and politics. The research also captured the legal and administrative obstacles to naturalisation across Europe and the trends in national debates. Keep an eye out for the project’s forthcoming European summary and proposed standards for the acquisition of nationality by immigrants and their descendants. Join MPG in the debate at a hearing of the European Economic and Social Committee and further events and actions as part of the 2013 European Year of Citizens.
