The current online version of the glossary (Version 8.0) was updated in December 2021. It includes approximately 520 terms and concepts reflecting the most recent EU policy on migration and asylum.

Amendments to existing entries reflect new concepts and terminology, as well as changes in the usage of existing terms that have been introduced through new legislation and policy on migration and asylum in the EU.

The glossary’s main focus continues to be legal developments in the framework of the EU acquis on asylum and migration. It intends to make communication easier for policy-makers, legislators, practitioners, media and people interested in the topic of migration and asylum.

Each glossary entry comprises a preferred term, a definition of the concept that this term represents, the source(s) of the definition, plus notes and relationships to other terms (synonyms, broader and narrower as well as related terms). Where interchangeable terms are available for a single concept, a preferred term is selected and all other possible terms are listed as synonyms.

All terms are translated in all EU Member State languages plus Norwegian (except Danish) Translations also take into account different national synonyms, indicating variations in EU context or national usage. In cases where EU Member States have the same nominal language, national variations indicate whether a synonym is preferred in a particular country or in the EU context. This should be particularly interesting for translators.

Notes complement the definition by clarifying the scope of the concept, its understanding in different contexts, and indicating web sources with further information. Learn more about the scope and the methodology of the glossary.

The glossary is developed and regularly updated by the members of the EMN Glossary and Thesaurus Working Group (GTWG) which collaborates with 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 and Moldova are involved in the glossary work; this cooperation will be further expanded with the new observer members Armenia, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine.

The EMN Glossary is also available to users as a mobile application for download in English, Finnish, German, Greek, Italian and Latvian for Android and iOS users (please note the Privacy Statement).

Printed versions are only published if they contain substantial changes. The last printed version was published as Version 6.0 in May 2018 and is available for download as an interactive pdf version in English (en) [7 MB] and Italian (it) [3 MB].

The EMN Glossary version 5.0 reflects the information available in December 2016 and it was published in the following EU languages: Deutsch (de) [11.8 MB] and Suomi (fi).

The EMN Glossary version 3.0 was published in the following EU languages, as well as Arabic: Spanish (es) [4 MB], French (fr) [4 MB], Lithuanian (lt), Portuguese (pt) [4 MB], and Arabic [7 MB].