ABSTRACT
In the context of this volume on policy convergence in the UK and Germany, immigra-
tion and integration policy constitutes an obvious and in many ways ideal case study.
There are three key reasons for this. First, for some decades now, these countries have
been two of the most significant destinations for immigration in the European Union.
In recent years, the two countries have received the highest volume of immigration and
family reunification of all EUmember states, as well as granting the highest numbers of
naturalisations; in absolute numbers of non-national residents, Germany and the UK
are first and third respectively. Between 1998 and 2002, these two countries took the
top two places in the EU in terms of the number of asylum applications lodged;
even since then, both have remained near the top.1 Indeed, with the possible exception
of France, no other EU member state can match the UK and Germany for both the sheer
scale and diversity of immigration they have received, as well as for the long period of
time over which this immigration has taken place. Some key indicators of immigration
to the UK and Germany between 2002 and 2005 are given in Table 1.
