The Shaping of Municipal Policies on Inclusion

This chapter contextualises recent developments at municipal level in Europe and the ways in which these have been addressed in the research literature. The chapter sets out the national policy frameworks within which local authorities must navigate their approach to precarious migrants and summarises the state of play on inclusion. A key theme is the contrast between national and municipal approaches, and the paradox of simultaneous policies of formal exclusion and formal inclusion, within and between each tier of governance. The chapter considers the significance of multi-level and horizontal governance arrangements; of municipal framing of rationales for service provision; the range of actors involved in delivering services; and the factors which shape service access and exclusion, including data ‘firewalls’. The chapter identifies gaps in the existing evidence and analysis which are addressed in the book.