GDISC (General Directors of Immigration Services Conference) was initiated by the Dutch in 2004, during their EU Presidency. The UK took on the role of Chair of GDISC in late 2009. The Chair then passed to Sweden in early 2011 and Sweden will keep the role of Chair until the end of 2013.

GDISC is an informal network to facilitate practical cooperation between Immigration Services in Europe. The GDISC network consists of the 27 EU Member States, the four EU candidate countries (Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland and Turkey), the potential EU candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina and two Schengen associated countries (Norway and Switzerland).

GDISC has the aim and ambition of:

• Being a network in principal for General Directors or Directors General of Immigration Services throughout Europe.
• Initiate, co-ordinate and improve practical co-operation between Immigration Services responsible for the implementation of migration and asylum issues in Europe.
• Provide a flexible response to changing migration patterns in Europe.
• Being a platform for exchanging experiences, best practices and building up networks of experts.

GDISC is involved in a large number of areas related to migration including, but not limited to, asylum, managed migration, return, management of Immigration Services, resettlement, migration and integration. For specific information on current GDISC projects within these areas please visit projects.