Development of the German Immigration Policy after 2015

Germany is seen and presented by itself as a welcome country. It is a country of immigration. First, there was the “Gastarbeiter” period when within agreements made by Germany and southern European states several thousand worker arrived in Germany and most of them made the country their permanent home. The country experienced another migration wave when the former Central-European countries became members of the European Union. In 2015, similar to other European States, Germany too experienced a migration-shock which resulted in a political-social turmoil in the German society. Not only politicians, but average people faced the same never-seen-before challenge on different levels, due to the number of migrants arriving in short term onto the territory of the state: one in the everyday life of its community, one in the political and legal perspective. Irrespectively of their reactions or adaptation methods, one common point of these actors was that they had to come to terms with the fact that a huge number of irregular migrants will stay long-term in Germany. However, the wave challenged the “welcome” country attitude both at political and at societal level. The author argues that roles, namely, the country affected by the migration wave, and the country being a leading European Union Member State became contradicted because of the measures introduced after 2015. This is underlined by the normative analysis of the main measures in this article, but because migration policy overlaps other policy areas, for example integration policy, interior policy, these measures touch upon different issues.

Institutions of civil society in the process of implementation of European integration policy

The purpose of the article is to investigate the impact of European integration processes on the development and diversity of civil society institutions in Ukraine. Methodology. The interdisciplinary approach to scientific knowledge in culturology, philosophy, political science, sociology has expanded the complex idea of ​​European integration criteria for the development of public institutions in Ukraine. The culturological method contributed to the introduction of data on the influence of civil society institutions on its development into the research structure. The method of statistical data analysis allowed us to trace the quantitative slice in the direction of increasing the institutions of civil society. The scientific novelty lies in the complexity of the approach to identifying synergies and interdependence of European integration and institutional citizenship processes in Ukraine. Conclusions. Realizing the national interests of Ukraine, the European choice opens new prospects for cooperation with the continent, promotes the development of civil society institutions, provides opportunities for economic progress, strengthens Ukraine's position in the world system of international relations, opens the way to collective structures of common security. Current trends in the development of civil society institutions in Ukraine in the context of European integration policy are: increasing the number of civil society institutions, flexibility of their response to public needs, different areas of their activities, media intensification in consolidating society, focusing on international legislation, use of grant projects; participation in international cultural practices. The scientific support of coordinated interaction of civil society with various branches of government on issues of European integration processes contributes to the improvement of the activity of civil society institutions. To do this, they use cultural, informational, consultative, dialogue, partnership tools for the implementation of European integration reforms in Ukraine. However, it is important to note that the interaction of Western states and civil society institutions is quite active and fruitful in contrast to the situation in Ukraine, where the state is interested in the development of these institutions, but they are not active enough in cooperation and positioning themselves in solving important problems, limited to the fragmentary participation in the life processes of the country. Keywords: civil society, non-governmental organizations, public institutions, European integration, cultural practices of Rivne region.

Theoretical and Methodological Features of Europeanization and New Institutionalism

It is identified in the paper that one of the important prerequisites for implementing an effective European integration policy is to consider the theories of Europeanization and new institutionalism. The essence of the concepts of "Europeanization" and "new institutionalism" is studied, the evolution of theoretical approaches to their research is considered, and the directions of studying "external" Europeanization were analyzed. The paper proves that the concept of Europeanization is widely used in the European scientific literature to analyze the political and regulatory influence of the European Union on new EU member states and neighboring countries, as well as the fundamental mechanisms of Europeanization. The author notes that Europeanization implies changes, transformations, and reforms taking place in all spheres of life under the influence of European integration processes, which can be analyzed from the standpoint of new institutionalism. The key provision of the new institutionalism is defined by the commonly used expression – "institutions matter", whose analytical priorities are to use a wide range of interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of norms, institutions and processes.

Sociocultural barriers to information and integration of women refugees

PurposeThis study focuses on specifically women refugees' experiences of accessing information and how sociocultural barriers impact these experiences aiming to broaden the LIS literature of women refugees' information problems from sociocultural aspects. The socioculturally formed roles of a woman can impact the information practices of women refugees or cause certain information problems during the integration process. Hence, the research questions that drive this study are: What kind of information problems might women refugees face in a new host country? What kind of sociocultural barriers influence their information problems? How do they react toward these information problems?Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with eighteen refugee women living in Sweden. The study is a part of a larger study in which authors intend to explore the information practices and integration challenges of almost 20 or more refugee women living in Sweden.FindingsWomen refugees face information overload, difficulties in understanding new communication culture and lack of appropriate sources and networks in a new country. These information problems are influenced by sociocultural barriers such as the role of women, national culture of “collectivism”, small-world and lack of information literacy. Women react in certain ways such as, stressing, panicking, quitting the tasks, wasting time and making wrong decisions which negatively impact the integration process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has its limitations as it is conducted with a small group of women refugees, belong to specific Middle Eastern culture and cannot be generalized. Another limitation is that the interviews are conducted in English language (with sufficient language skill). However, conducting interviews in their mother language would have been an advantage.Practical implicationsPractically, the study provides awareness for official and private organizations, volunteers and policymakers dealing with refugees. The stakeholders involved in the societal integration process of refugees, must consider that women refugees are more prone to information problems due to certain sociocultural influences (i.e. “being a woman” and national culture) and need a separate plan than the male refugees. For instance, by increasing and offering intercultural opportunities at workplaces or schools can encourage the wider social networking for women refugees. The programs aiming to reduce the sociocultural differences among women refugees and the Swedes are needed to be included in the integration policy.Social implicationsThe study intends to help the refugees society and the Swedish society overall by improving the integration plan.Originality/valueThe findings related to the information experiences of women refugees have potential implications for research where the value of information in the integration process is explored. The study meets the gap in previous literature by presenting the gender specific views on information problems from sociocultural aspects. The study also provides future directions to understand how women refugees deal with potential sociocultural barriers to information in a new country.

The state of implementation of socio-economic transformations in Ukraine in the context of European integration policy

The author has analyzed ranking indexes of the state in the period before and after active European integrational practices – in 2013 and in 2019. The indexes which, by their content, correspond to the principles which serve as a foundation for social and economical policy of the EU have been paid attention to. As a result, it has been concluded that the reputational progress of Ukraine is conditioned by European integration reforms, in particular, in the areas of entrepreneurship, economic rights and freedoms, information openness in relation to economics and public finances, creating conditions for citizens to manage their property and labor. The study highlights those aspects of the socio-economic plane that are sensitive to European integration processes: migration processes to increase labor, touristic and academic mobility. It has been stated the dual nature of the geographical reorientation of labor migration from Ukraine to the West in contrast to the Russian Federation, due to both the worsening of labor conditions and environmental safety in Russia and the simplification of employment procedures in the EU countries. It is emphasized that this layering of circumstances, in fact, made a choice on behalf of people and European integration in this case is a favorable condition, not a key reason. Four levels of European integration factor in the socio-economic development of Ukraine have been emphasized: adaptation of domestic legislation to the integration of principles and values of EU policy into Ukrainian practices; support and acceleration of systemic reforms, correlated with the European integration course by means of macro-financial assistance and loans; assistance in activation and reorientation of social mobility of Ukrainians to the European direction – within the framework of labor migration, academic mobility and touristic flows; improvement of Ukraine’s reputation indexes in world’s rankings.

Current Trends of the European Union Integration Policy As a Reaction to the Refugee and Migrant Crisis 2015

Investing any resources and energy in integration policies today could contribute to making the European Union a more prosperous, cohesive, and inclusive place for society. However, notwithstanding the efforts made, third-country nationals continue to fare worse than domestic citizens in terms of employment, education, and social inclusion outcomes. The article examines and subsequently reviews various trends in integrating foreigners (primarily third-countries nationals and asylum seekers) on social and economic level after the outbreak of migrant and refugee crisis in 2015 until the present day. Our research suggests that the concerned group of immigrants continue to face barriers in the education system, on the labour market, and in accessing decent housing and adequate health care. All of the aforementioned aspects have become the main focus of all parties involved. Through funding, initiatives, and specific measures undertaken by both the EU and Member States with NGOs strengthen and support integration across key policy areas, albeit deficiencies are still observed.