Migration Governance in the European Union: A Statistical Analysis of 2020–2025 MIPEX Data

This study analyzes the structural patterns and temporal dynamics of migrant integration policies across the twenty-seven member states of the European Union, drawing on the 2020 and 2025 MIPEX editions through a multi-stage statistical framework. The analytical strategy combines Shapiro–Wilk normality tests, principal component analysis, k-means cluster analysis, Kruskal–Wallis tests with Dunn post hoc procedures, and paired comparisons of the two editions. The findings show that EU member states do not follow a uniform approach to migration governance but instead display a statistically significant and hierarchically structured pattern of differentiation. Principal component analysis shows that the eight policy dimensions are strongly interdependent, with a single component accounting for almost half of the total variance, while a second and independent component separates the dimensions along institutional lines. K-means analysis groups member states into three clusters, designated as leading, follower and lagging countries, and Kruskal–Wallis tests confirm that inter-cluster differences are statistically significant across all eight dimensions. Paired comparisons reveal that the interval between the two editions was broadly characterized by policy stability, with education the only dimension to record a statistically significant improvement. Taken together, these findings suggest that integration efforts across the EU have advanced most readily at the level of socio-educational inclusion, while encountering persistent resistance in the domain of full legal and political equality.