permanent structure in 2008 through Council Decision 2008/381/EC (and amended by Regulation (EU) No 516/2014) (EU Commission, n.d.a). The primary objective of the EMN is to provide objective, comparable, and policy-relevant information and knowledge on a wide range of topical issues related to migration and asylum, spanning from issues related to legal migration to citizenship and statelessness to return and readmission. Structure and Operation Graph 1: The Structure of the EMN (authors’ own work) The EMN is an intergovernmental network consisting of: • National Contact Points (NCPs) located in each of the 26 Member States (EU Member States except Denmark) and 8 Observer Countries (NO, GE, MD, UA, ME, AM, RS, MK) • the European Commission, which coordinates the EMN • and the EMN Service Provider (ICF) The EMN operates in a multi-level way. On the national level, the NCPs are connected to their national network, which is developed by each NCP and consists of partners that are experts in the field of migration and asylum, ranging from the academic research community to NGOs, to civil servants and practitioners employed in government institutions. The national network members play a crucial role in 6