PexelsDelicious pastries, good wines and some of the most romantic destinations on the planet. It’s perhaps unsurprising French has been ranked as the best nationality on Earth for the eighth year in a row.
According to the Kälin and Kochenov’s Quality of Nationality Index (QNI), which ranks nationalities in terms of a number of factors, L’hexagone is still topping the world’s top 10 nationalities, followed closely by Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.
These factors include the external value of a nationality, as well its influence in offering opportunities to those outside their country of origin. Other areas assessed included welfare, education, healthcare and life chances, as well as global travel and settlement
Quality of Nationality IndexAccording to the QNI, France has this year scored an impressive 83.5%. Germany and the Netherlands followed in joint second place, both scoring a very close 82.8%. It’s believed France was able to jump marginally ahead on account of their greater settlement freedom.
Positions five to ten were given – in order – to Iceland (81.4%), Finland (81.2%), Italy (80.7%), the UK (80.3%), Ireland (80.2%), and Spain (80.0%).
The US didn’t fare too well, rolling in at 25th place, with a significantly lower score of 70%. The country’s lower standing compared with EU countries is largely attributed to low settlement freedom.
Quality of Nationality IndexDespite being currently ranked as the eighth-best nationality worldwide, Britain’s very respectable position may well be under threat following a potential hard Brexit, which could lead to Brits dropping to 56th globally.
EU countries usually perform highly on the QNI, on account of the liberal degree of settlement freedom allowed between member states. However, if Britain ends up exiting the EU without a deal in place, the nationality’s quality would be greatly diminished in the eyes of this index.
According to the research, compiled by Professor Dr. Dimitry Kochenov and Dr. Christian H Kaelin, this devaluation would potentially have an ‘irrevocable’ effect.
Professor Kochenov has explained:
The UK may be about to establish a world record in terms of profoundly undermining the quality of its nationality without going through any violent conflict.
Depending on the still-to-be determined outcome of Brexit, the UK could see itself falling from the elite group of ‘very high quality’ nationalities into the ‘high quality’ bracket.
A truly ‘hard’ Brexit would result in the UK having a nationality that does not grant Britons settlement or work rights in any of the EU jurisdictions or Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland: a collection of the most highly developed places on earth, greatly diminishing the quality of its own nationality in an irrevocable manner: either you have such rights, or not – and in such a scenario UK citizens won’t have them.
Quality of Nationality IndexIt’s unclear at the time of writing whether or not Boris Johnson has had a chance to cast an eye over this index. But let’s just hope he has…
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.