Dual citizenship and integration of descendants of immigrants in Luxembourg

Jérôme Tourbeaux, CEPS/INSTEAD and IEDUB

Half of the Luxembourg population consists of foreigners with more than a third of Portuguese. Given the age structure of Luxembourg and the continued migration, the population projections provided 700,000 people in 2050 - against 500,000 today - mostly of foreign origin. The Nationality Act of October 23, 2008 introduced the principle of dual nationality (to acquire Luxembourg nationality without repudiate his nationality of origin) to avoid Luxembourgers become a minority in their own countries, but also to prevent a minority have the right to vote to decide for all residents. The new law resulted in a net increase in the number of naturalizations, especially among the Portuguese born in Luxembourg. The old law, forcing them to renounce the nationality transmitted by their parents seemed inappropriate. Indeed, their name, appearance, or of their proficiency in Luxemburgish are all signs that refer to their origin, and thus the feeling of staying stranger. Yet the descendants of immigrants, by their place of birth and socialization, consider themselves like making part of Luxembourg as full citizens. Their identity, unlike their parents who feel Portuguese, are the result of an negotiation between two different cultures and environments. They build their membership like a compromise between different cultural and social spheres, with a back and forth between country of birth of parents and Luxembourg. We will see that despite a relatively good social and professional integration, important differences in values and family responsibilities between Luxembourgers and Portuguese persist. This legislation seems particularly suited to hybrid identities of the descendants of immigrants. This study will be conducted using data from the survey in 2008 EVS (European Values Study). It will compare the level of adherence to norms and values among the Portuguese immigrants, their descendants and Luxembourgers, but also with the Portuguese living in Portugal.