About the Transatlantic Council on Migration
The Transatlantic Council on Migration (TCM) is a unique deliberative body that examines vital policy issues and informs migration and immigrant integration policymaking processes in Europe and North America. Through rigorous research, high-level convenings, and tailored policy advice, the Council provides policymakers and stakeholders essential analysis to help tackle the most vexing policy questions.
Launched in 2008, the Transatlantic Council is an MPI initiative that was first convened by founding President, Demetrios G. Papademetriou. The Council’s work is generously supported by the governments of Australia, Canada, Germany, Norway, and Sweden, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The Council aims to help inform the transatlantic migration and immigrant integration agenda and promote better-informed policymaking by proactively identifying critical policy issues, analyzing them in light of the best research, and bringing them to public attention. At the same time, it aims to serve as a resource for governments as they grapple with the challenges and opportunities associated with international migration. To achieve this, the Council conducts high-quality independent, evidence-based research drawing on some of the world’s top experts; convenes high-level, off-the-record forums to encourage candid debate between political leaders, policymakers, experts, civil-society leaders, and private-sector officials; and provides tailored advice to senior political leaders, including implementable policy ideas and the communications tools to speak persuasively about them.
To achieve this, the Council conducts high-quality independent, evidence-based research drawing on some of the world’s top experts; convenes high-level, off-the-record forums to encourage candid debate between political leaders, policymakers, experts, civil-society leaders, and private-sector officials; and provides tailored advice to senior political leaders, including implementable policy ideas and the communications tools to speak persuasively about them.
The Council explores a wide range of policy fields, including:
- Advancing social cohesion and social justice through more thoughtful citizenship and integration policies that focus equally on rights and responsibilities.
- Understanding and responding to public opinion on migration by improving policy communications and addressing the underlying drivers of public narratives on migration.
- Enhancing economic growth and addressing labor market needs through immigration.
- Encouraging and facilitating greater mobility through improved migration management and asylum systems, border procedures, and consular operations.
- Understanding better the complex links between migration and development.
- Rethinking how to provide refugees effective access to humanitarian protection.
- Exploring the vital role of international cooperation in migration governance, identifying what makes cooperation work in migration management, and utilizing cooperation during times of crisis.
- Navigating the future of mobility and borders in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Council succeeds the Transatlantic Task Force on Immigration and Integration, launched in 2006 by MPI and the Bertelsmann Stiftung.
Since its inception, the Council has released a statement after each convening, summarizing some of the key discussion points and findings to come out of the meeting. All Council Statements are available here.
The Council typically convenes twice a year, in the spring and fall, and also holds extraordinary meetings as necessary. All meetings are conducted under the Chatham House Rule. A list of all the prior meetings and related papers prepared for the Council meeetings can be accessed here, if hyperlinked:
April 2023 - Madrid
Building Effective Partnerships to Meet Shared Migration Goals
September 2022 - Berlin
Strengthening Resilience in the Age of Disruption
October 2021 - Virtual
Protection for Afghans at Risk: Addressing Unresolved Questions and Planning for the Future
June-July 2021 - Virtual
International Cooperation on Managing Migration and Borders
October-November 2020 - Virtual
A New Way Forward on International Cooperation on Migration
May, June, September 2020 - Virtual
International Mobility and Migration in the Age of COVID-19 and Future Pandemics
October 2019 - Brussels
Coming Together or Coming Apart? A New Phase of International Cooperation
February 2019 - Vienna
Rebuilding Community After Crisis: An Updated Social Contract for a New Migration Reality
September 2018 - Brussels
Building Migration Systems for a New Age of Economic Competitiveness
November 2017 - Stockholm
The Future of Migration Policy in a Volatile Political Landscape
February 2017 - Oslo
Building Partnerships to Respond to the Next Decade’s Migration Challenges
June 2016 - Toronto
The Other Side of the Asylum and Resettlement Coin: Investing in Refugee Success along the Continuum
January 2016 - Berlin
Development, Mobility, Protection: Building Opportunity into Refugee Solutions
June 2015 - Rome
Building and Maintaining Trust in the Governance of Migration
December 2014 - Brussels
Refitting the Global Protection System to Meet the Challenges of Modern Crises
June 2014 - Lisbon
Rethinking Emigration: A Lost Generation or a New Era of Mobility?
November 2013 - London
Cities & Regions: Reaping Migration's Local Dividends
June 2013 - New York
Migration Is Development: Policies That Work
December 2012 - Madrid
Immigration & Skills: Maximizing Human Capital in a Changing Economic Landscape
June 2012 – Washington, DC
Curbing the Influence of “Bad Actors” in International Migration
November 2011 – Berlin
Rethinking National Identity in the Age of Migration
June 2011 – Lisbon
The Governance of International Migration: Defining the Potential for Reform
November 2010 – Washington, DC
Restoring Trust in the Management of Migration and Borders
May 2010 – Bellagio, Italy
Immigrant Integration: Priorities for the Next Decade
June 2009 – Berlin
Integration at the Local Level – Diversity, Social Cohesion, and the Descendants of Immigrants
May 2009 – Bellagio, Italy
Public Opinion, Media Coverage, and Migration
November 2008 - New York
International Competitiveness and the Future of Migration
April 2008 - Bellagio, Italy
Migration and Development, and Citizenship and Identity in the 21st Century