The report Governance and policy changes during times of high influxes of protection seekers. A comparative governance and policy analysis in eight European countries, 2015-June 2023 was published in November 2023 by the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) at the Oslo Metropolitan University and partner universities.

The report compares the responses of 8 European countries - Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the UK, Germany, Austria, and Poland - to the influxes of protection seekers in 2015-2016 and in 2022-2023. It includes updated analysis of policy responses up until June 2023. 

The publication includes an updated analysis of policy responses up until June 2023 and looks into a wide scope of issues, including:

• How have the European countries’ governance and policies for asylum, immigration and integration developed over the last decade, and how did European governments react during particularly these two periods of high influxes of protection seekers?
• What characterises the governance and policy development in such situations, and has there been differences across countries and over time?
• Are European integration policies for protection seekers becoming more 1) liberal/generous or restrictive, 2) selective or universal, and 3) temporary or permanent?

NIBR conducted the comparative report – along with eight country-specific reports – together with University College London (UCL), the University of Eastern Finland, the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw, the German Centre for integration and Migration Research (DeZIM), and the University of Vienna. The report has been financed by the Directorate of Integration and Diversity (IMDi).