Stateless people face the risk of rights violations every day. The main reason for this is that most European States still don’t have an established process to identify stateless people, determine their statelessness, and provide them with a route out of limbo.
This briefing is part of a series of thematic briefings and summarises how the 34 countries featured in the Statelessness Index perform against international norms and good practice in law, policy, and practice on statelessness determination and the protection of stateless people.
It highlights best practice examples and provides a critical analysis of the remaining gaps and barriers in countries across Europe.
The briefing also presents recommendations for urgent action needed to strengthen access to protection and pathways to naturalisation for stateless people.
The briefing was first published in September 2021 and last updated in October 2025.
