Europe Is Asking the Wrong Question About Immigration

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Across Europe, immigration has become one of the defining political issues of our time. Governments continue to debate border controls, asylum procedures, deportations and labor shortages. Every new crisis generates another proposal, another emergency measure and another political confrontation.

Yet one fundamental question is rarely asked.

What if the future of immigration policy depends less on controlling entry and more on measuring integration?

That is the central idea I discuss in my recent YouTube live conversation, “Integration or ReImmigration? The Future of Italy and Europe.”

The discussion was organized for an Italian audience, but the questions it raises are far from uniquely Italian. They concern every democratic country that is trying to reconcile immigration, constitutional values, public security and social cohesion.

As an immigration lawyer, I have spent years working within the Italian legal system. During that time, I became convinced that our legislation has developed a significant imbalance.

We have built increasingly sophisticated rules governing who may enter a country.

We have built detailed procedures regulating residence permits, asylum applications and citizenship.

But we have never developed an equally sophisticated legal framework for evaluating whether integration has actually taken place.

This observation led me to develop what I call the “Integration or ReImmigration” paradigm.

The proposal starts from a simple principle.

Immigration policy should not end once a person receives a residence permit.

It should continue through a transparent and measurable process of integration.

Language acquisition, respect for constitutional principles, participation in civic life, economic independence and compliance with the rule of law should become central elements of immigration policy—not secondary considerations.

Only after a genuine opportunity for integration has been offered should the legal system ask a second question:

Has the integration process actually succeeded?

If the answer is yes, permanent residence becomes stronger.

If the answer is no, after an individual assessment conducted under the rule of law, ReImmigration may become the legal consequence of a failed integration process.

This is fundamentally different from the concept of collective “remigration” that is increasingly discussed across Europe.

During the live discussion I explain why these two concepts should not be confused and why I believe Europe needs a completely new legal paradigm.

The conversation also explores several practical proposals, including periodic integration assessments, the reform of immigration administration, the role of integration agreements, citizenship, public welfare and the possibility of creating new institutions specifically dedicated to integration policy.

If you are interested in immigration law, public policy or the future of Western democracies, I invite you to watch the full discussion.

Even if the conversation was held in Italian, I believe the legal ideas behind it deserve an international audience. The questions we discuss are no longer European questions alone. They increasingly concern every democratic society facing the challenge of integrating newcomers while preserving constitutional order and social cohesion.

I hope the live discussion can contribute to opening that broader international conversation.

Watch the full YouTube live discussion:
“Integration or ReImmigration? The Future of Italy and Europe”

Fabio Loscerbo
Attorney at Law – Immigration Lawyer
Registered Lobbyist in the European Union Transparency Register (No. 280782895721-36) for Migration and Asylum Policy
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7030-0428



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