4th Intergovernmental Conference “Achieving Equal Opportunities for All Migrants Through Learning and Assessment: Language and knowledge of society requirements for migrants in Council of Europe member states"

Introduction

For the past two decades a growing number of European countries have introduced language and knowledge of society (KoS) requirements as part of their immigration and integration policies. While rarely practiced before year 2000, most countries in Europe today have formal language and KoS-requirements for citizenship, residency and/or entrance to the country. As the findings of this reports reveal, however, the actual level of language proficiency required varies considerably from one country to the next, as does the degree to which states provide migrants with learning opportunities through tailored and free-of-charge language and KoS-courses.

To map the language and KoS-requirements as well as the learning opportunities provided for migrants in its member states, the Council of Europe in co-operation with the Association of Language Testers in Europe (ALTE) has conducted a survey in 2018. The Council of Europe and ALTE Survey on Language and Knowledge of Society Policies for Migrants: requirements and learning opportunities was a follow-up to the previous surveys conducted in 2007, 2009 and 2013, with an extended focus on vulnerable groups, such as minors, low-literate migrants, and refugees.


Purpose

The Council of Europe and ALTE are co-organising this intergovernmental conference to present the results of the 2018 survey. Entitled “Achieving Equal Opportunities for All Migrants Through Learning and Assessment: Language and knowledge of society requirements for migrants in Council of Europe member states” the conference will take place on 16 October 2019 in Strasbourg. It will provide insight into the trends in the migration policies in Council of Europe member states, discuss the implications of increasing use of language and KoS requirements and suggest concrete measures to be taken.

Scope

  • Methodology of the 2018 survey
  • Language and KoS requirements
  • Learning opportunities for migrants
  • Trends in language and KoS requirements from 2007 onwards
  • Policy recommendations based on the 2018 survey results
  • The impact of language and KoS requirements on migrants’ integration
  • Language and KoS requirements and human rights

Conference documents and publications

Presentations

Bart Deygers, Lorenzo Rocca, Cecilie Hamnes Carlsen - Presentation of the 2018 Council of Europe / ALTE report by the authors

Dr. Ricky van Oers - The impact of language and knowledge of society requirements on integration

Elana Shohamy - Language and ‘Knowledge of Society’ requirements, and human rights

Piet Van Avermaet - Social participation is a shared responsibility