Based on the idea that there are two contrasting views on the way in which European states instrumentalise naturalisation, residence and immigrants' rights in general, the paper "Membership and/or rights? Analyzing the link between naturalization and integration policies for immigrants in Europe” performs a comparative analysis of the relation between integration and naturalisation policies in 29 European states. The two perspectives are the complementary and the alternative ones. The first sees access to citizenship as a complementary strategy to the immigrant's access to other rights and as the final stage of integration, whereas the ‘alternative’ view sees access to citizenship as independent of granting of other rights.

There has been no systematic comparative work so far on how states use the citizen and immigrant concepts and their associated rights. Citizenship is not just an alternative within integration policies. The authors reached the conclusion that inclusive naturalisation policies also indicate inclusive policies in other areas of public life, such as public participation, education, labour market access, anti-discrimination and family reunion.

The authors - Thomas Huddleston and Maarten Peter Vink - conclude that naturalisation policies are at the heart of a state’s integration policy and one of the best predictors of its overall approach to integration.

Source: MPG e-newsletter - October 2013