EMN Asylum and Migration Glossary , Date: 2025.06.03, format: Article, area: Authority

The multidisciplinary EMN Glossary on Asylum and Migration is a key resource for European terminology in the field of asylum and migration. With currently 550 terms, it provides a comprehensive, harmonised vocabulary at EU level, including definitions and notes. The terms are translated into 27 European languages.

Comparable terms and definitions

The EMN Glossary provides clear and harmonised definitions of migration and asylum concepts, supporting evidence-based policymaking and enhancing a common understanding across the EU and at national level. It intends to streamline communication for policymakers, practitioners, media, and people interested in the topic of migration and asylum.

Click here to see the EMN Glossary video on YouTube.

Involvement of Experts

The EMN Glossary is developed by a dedicated working group which collaborates with experts from various EMN National Contact Points (NCPs), key EU bodies such as the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and international organisations, such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The EMN also cooperates with EU Council institutions which participate in the EU's terminology database (IATE - Interactive Terminology for Europe), such as the Council of the EU, the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the EU or the Court of Justice of the EU.

Increasingly, observer members such as Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia and Serbia are involved in the glossary work; this cooperation will be further ex-panded with the other new observer members.

Up-to-date terms and translations

The EMN Glossary reflects recent developments in migration and asylum, including terminology related to the Pact on Migration and Asylum. Through regular updates, it stays aligned with the Pact's implementation - covering both internal and external dimensions - while also responding to the needs of professionals working in the field.

It includes verified national translations of the terms in nearly all EU Member States languages (except Danish), as well as in Norwegian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Armenian and Montenegrin/Serbian, thereby supporting the growing number of EMN Observer Countries and broadening its scope.

User friendly and easily accessible via website and App

The EMN Glossary is available as an interactive online glossary via the EMN central websites, as well as a mobile application for download by Android and iOS users.

The EMN Glossary app offers convenient access to terms translated into 27 languages, with browsable definitions in seven full language versions (English, Finnish, French, Ger-man, Greek, Italian and Latvian). The app features alphabetical search, browse functions for the terms, as well as visual navigation of the relationships between terms.