Immigration is arguably the most important general issue affecting contemporary European societies. Considerable social science research has examined its many consequences for host societies.

In our panel, we examine various aspects of the attitudes and life experiences of migrants themselves as they attempt to integrate into European society. The migration process involves significant disruption to an individual's physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing. Two papers address these issues via an examination of the effects of migration on health. Semyonov, Davidov and Maskileyson analyse the potential sources of health disparities between immigrants and native-born populations in five Western European countries and, in particular, the absence of the "healthy immigrant effect" noted so widely in the US case. Cebolla and González-Ferrer examine the effects of disruptions to the life of migrant families (in the form of separation and later reunification) on the mental health of immigrant adolescents in Spain. Two further papers examine the relationship between migrants and institutions potentially capable of facilitating their integration into European society. Gorodzeisky and Richards consider the historically complicated relationship between migrants and unions, which are critical to migrants' full integration into the labour market. The authors critically assess the widespread assumption that migrants are hostile to unions, using survey data from sixteen Western European countries. Finally, González-Ferrer and Serrano evaluate the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility, introduced by the European Commission in 2011 as a means, ostensibly, of promoting circularity and repeated migration designed to benefit migrants themselves and both their countries of origin and destination.