Integration in the EU, new Eurobarometer survey

For 7 out of 10 Europeans, integration is a two-way process. Italians worse informed, but with more migrant friends

Last June, the European Commission published the results of a Eurobarometer survey dedicated to the Integration of immigrants in the EU, conducted in all Member States between 2 November and 3 December 2021, interviewing over 26,000 European citizens.

People tend to overestimate the number of third country nationals as a proportion of the population of their country (68%). Only 38% of Europeans consider themselves well informed about migration and integration. More than half of respondents (56%) receive information on these topics through traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers), while the second largest information source (15%) is social media and networks.

At the same time, a strong majority of Europeans (70%) view integration as a two-way process, in which both host societies and immigrants play an important role. Half of Europeans agree that integration of migrants is successful in their city or local area, while slightly less (42%) think the same about integration in their country.

Just over half of Europeans (53%) agree that their national government is doing enough to promote the integration of migrants into society. A clear majority (69%) of respondents agree that it is necessary for their country to invest in integrating migrants. Moreover, three out of four Europeans (75%) believe that the integration needs of migrants should be taken into account when designing measures to fight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The responses of Italian citizens are largely in line with the European average, but there are some significant differences. Over half of Italians (54%), for example, believe that there are more irregular immigrants than regular ones (the EU average is 33%) and those who consider themselves well informed about migration and integration are 31%, a decrease compared to to the survey conducted in 2017. On the other hand, the percentage of those who say they have immigrant friends (57%) is significantly higher than the EU average (42%) and has grown by 30 percentage points compared to the previous survey.

Below, a summary, the main results in Italy and a series of infographics.