1.
Promotion: how do authorities help applicants to meet the legal requirements?
State promotional measures help eligible foreigners to apply for naturalisatio
n. A lack of information
and public encouragement are two reasons why eligible foreigners do not naturalise; they do not know
or do not feel that they are welcome as new citizens (Bauböck et al. 2005). Most Europeans have seen
ordinary naturalisation as be
ing only in the interest of immigrants and not society at large. Information
and support have traditionally been the responsibility of immigrants themselves or civil society, but
not the role for the state. Measures such as citizenship ceremonies are many
times inspired by
traditional countries of immigration like Canada and the United States, where naturalisation is a tool to
promote integration. As European countries recognise themselves as countries of immigration,
national, regional, and local politicia
ns have introduced promotion measures for naturalisation, often
as part of major reforms of citizenship legislation, for example in several German federal states after
the 1999 reform. While European countries have hardly ever run naturalisation campaigns
as such,
several countries have policies and materials intended to inform and assist eligible applicants.
Promotional measures are regularly presented as ‘good practices’ (European Web Site on Integration
2012). The European Commission’s Handbook on Integr
ation proposes that an active communications
strategy should assist and encourage applicants, while informing the public about society’s interest in
naturalisation and its benefits for integration. Naturalisation promotional measures are also featured on
t
he European Commission’s European Website on Integration. Taken together, the CITIMP promotion
indicators can serve as an indicator of the state’s willingness to promote naturalisation. Strong
promotional measures may raise application rates and lower reje
ction rates, though these effects may
depend on whether the country’s legal requirements are
–
or are perceived to be
–
too restrictive.