Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2007)466 - European Migration Network - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2007)466 - European Migration Network. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2007)466  |
| date | 10-08-2007 |
Already in 1994, the European Commission stressed, in its first communication on immigration and asylum policies i, the value of creating a mechanism to monitor migration flows on a comprehensive and EU-wide basis. In response, a feasibility study was carried out in 1996 i.
Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam on 1 May 1999 and the European Council at Tampere in October 1999, the European Union committed itself to developing a common policy on immigration and asylum to ensure more effective management of migration flows to the EU. This commitment emphasises fair treatment of third country nationals, partnership with countries of origin, and a balanced approach to migration management, as well as the development of a common European asylum system.
In its conclusions the Laeken European Council of December 2001 invited the Commission to establish a system for exchange of information on asylum, migration and countries of origin. In response to the need for more and better information on migratory issues, a new budget line (budget line 18 03 05 (ex B5-814)) was included in the 2002 budget of the European Communities as a pilot project with the aim to set up a European Migration Monitoring Centre and improve statistics in the field of migration and asylum. Owing to the delay in setting up the network, activities funded under the 2002 budget line effectively began in 2003 and since then there has been a one year difference between the budget line year and implementation year. The project, which eventually took the name European Migration Network, continued from 2003 as a preparatory action, until 2006 (budget line year 2005).
At the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003 the Heads of State and Government recognised the importance of monitoring and analysing the multidimensional migration phenomenon and endorsed the creation of the European Migration Network. They also supported examining the possibility of creating a permanent structure in the future.
Endorsed by the European Council in November 2004, the Hague Programme builds on the framework of the Tampere programme to advance a new agenda on freedom, security and justice in the EU. In the on-going development of European immigration and asylum policy, the Hague programme highlights the importance of reinforcing the collection, provision, exchange and effective use of up-to-date information and data on all relevant migratory developments , as well as the need for harmonisation of data and information at Member State level.
The continuous development since the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam of common European policies in the areas of migration and asylum needs to be supported by comparable, reliable and objective information and data, at national and European level. Common policies to better manage migration, call for common analyses of migratory phenomena. Important information needs, as already identified by the 1996 feasibility study and confirmed by the 2005 evaluation of the EMN i, continue to exist in the field of migration and asylum for policy makers at both EU and Member States level, which the future EMN structure should contribute to satisfying.
First, despite the huge amount of information on many aspects of international migration that is being produced, access to this information is not easy to obtain, as it is dispersed and not centrally available. A single reference point for the filtering and synthesising of this information that could serve as a clearing house would, therefore, be very useful to EU institutions and Member States, both policy makers and the general public.
Second, there is insufficient reliable, comparable and up-to-date information and analysis of legal and policy developments with regard to asylum and migration, both at national and EU level. There is also insufficient comparable information on effects of EU and national policies in this area. In addition, there exists an increasing need for the EU and its Member States to obtain quick responses on specific issues related to migration and asylum. To fill these information gaps, some kind of network structure would be required that could reach out to all Member States, combined with a certain level of central coordination.
Third, a major problem lies in the lack of accurate, up-to-date and comparable statistical data on migration and asylum. The recently adopted Commission proposal for a regulation on Community statistics on migration and international protection i will tackle this problem, but there will continue to be a need for the comparative analysis of such statistical information.
To facilitate the initial launching of the EMN pilot/preparatory action, a phased, bottom-up approach was adopted by first setting up a network of National Contact Points. These contact points, who were designated by the Member States, are at the core of the EMN and carry out the documentation, analysis and research activities. The National Contact Points are also expected to set up national networks of partners that contribute their views and expertise on the various topics under review. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Freedom, Security and Justice has monitored the overall development of the EMN with the assistance of a scientific and administrative co-ordination team, selected by an open invitation to tender.
Given the need to continue and reinforce the activities of the EMN in order to meet the Hague Programme requirement for an effective provision of up-to-date information and data on all relevant migratory developments , and contribute to more informed policy- and decision-making in the ongoing development of a common European immigration and asylum policy, it is now proposed to formalise the EMN through the adoption of an appropriate legal instrument (a Council Decision based on Article 66 of the EC Treaty). It is proposed to keep many elements of the existing structure, although some important modifications are introduced to improve the functioning of the EMN. The Council Decision will define the main elements necessary for the work of the EMN, namely its objective, tasks, structure, information exchange system, financing arrangements and relations with other organisations.
Contents
- 2. Existing provisions in the area of the proposal
- 3. Consultation
- 4. Summary of the proposed action
- Objective
- Activities
- Structure
- Information exchange system and studies
- Financing
- 5. Legal basis
- 6. Subsidiarity
- 7. Proportionality
- 8. Relation of the EMN with other information exchange instruments/structures in the area of migration and asylum
The current EMN has operated first as a pilot project and then as a preparatory action, which did not need a proper legal base and was financed through a specific line (budget line 18 03 05 (ex B5-814)) of the Community budget i. According to Article 49, paragraph 2, letter b) of COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities i, preparatory actions cannot last more than three years. Therefore, the continuation of the activities of the EMN needs the establishment of a legal instrument.
In order to consult relevant stakeholders about the future of the EMN the Commission adopted on 28 November 2005 a 'Green Paper on the future of the European Migration Network' i which, against an assessment of the functioning of the EMN during the preparatory period, dealt with issues such as the mandate and future structure of the EMN.
The Green Paper launched an open consultation, which lasted until 28 January 2006, and 32 contributions were received, about half of them from the Member States, and the rest from current National Contact Points of the EMN, federal and regional authorities of the Member States and other institutions, mainly academia i.
On 6 April 2006 a selected experts' hearing on the future of the European Migration Network was held in Brussels. During the hearing, the main conclusions from the public consultation were presented by the Commission, and several experts made presentations related to the future mandate and structure of the EMN.
The public consultation and experts' hearing demonstrated that there was broad agreement on the need to continue the activities of the EMN, building on its current mandate and structure.
Finally, the Commission has consulted experts from the Member States on issues related to the future of the EMN on two occasions (29 April 2005 and 20 June 2006) in the Committee on Immigration and Asylum. Member States have on both occasions supported the Commission's intentions for the formalisation of the EMN.
The main purpose of the proposal is to formalise the European Migration Network and to give it a proper legal base which describes its objectives, tasks, structure, as well as other important elements for the functioning of the EMN, such as the way it is financed and the establishment of an information exchange system open to the public.
The proposal describes the objective of the EMN as follows: to meet the information needs of Community institutions, Member States authorities and institutions, and the general public on migration and asylum, by providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum, with a view to supporting policy- and decision-making in the European Union in these areas'.
In order to attain the above mentioned objective, the EMN should carry out a number of activities , which are described in Article 2. They include, inter alia, the following: collect and exchange existing up-to-date data and information from a range of sources; undertake analysis of such data and information; publish reports; create and maintain and internet-based information exchange system; co-operate with other relevant European and international bodies.
The Network is composed of National Contact Points, designated by the Member States, and of the European Commission .
To ensure active participation from the Member States and provide political guidance to the EMN, a Steering Board is established, where every Member State, the Commission and the European Parliament will be represented.
In particular, it will:
- Participate in the preparation of the EMN's annual programme of activities;
- Review progress made by the EMN, making recommendations for necessary actions when required;
- Provide, at least once a year, a status report on on-going activities of the EMN and key findings of its studies, to be provided to all the European institutions;
- Identify the most appropriate strategic co-operative relationships with other entities competent in the area of migration and asylum;
- Advice and help the National Contact Points on how to improve their operations.
The National Contact Points need to fulfil a certain number of requirements, such as expertise in the area of asylum and migration; Information Technology skills and equipment; ability to set up collaboration schemes and networking with other national organisations and entities; and the ability to work and write in a second official language of the European Institutions.
Each Member State designates one entity which acts as National Contact Point. The National Contact Point needs to be composed of at least three experts. One of these experts, who will be the national coordinator of the National Contact Point, must be an official or employee of the designated entity. The remaining experts may belong to this entity or to other national and international organisations based in the Member State, either public or private.
The National Contact Points will prepare national reports, contribute national data to the information exchange system of the EMN, develop a capacity to issue and quickly respond to ad hoc requests addressed to/from other National Contact Points and establish a national migration network, composed of a wide range of organisations and individuals active in the area of migration and asylum, including also labour, education and external relations/development aspects of migration, and representing all relevant stakeholders.
The Commission's responsibilities will involve:
- General coordination of the EMN;
- Adoption of the EMN's annual programme of activities;
- One representative from the Commission will sit in the Steering Board and will chair it. He or she will be assisted by two scientific experts appointed by the Commission;
- Ensuring that the work of the EMN reflects the political priorities of the Community in the area of migration and asylum;
- Appointment of a service provider that will assist the Commission with the day-to-day management of the EMN, including the information exchange system of the EMN. The Commission will closely monitor the activities of this service provider, establishing clear responsibilities and working practices; involving, if necessary, working groups of National Contact Points to work closely with the service provider on particular activities
- The Commission will also ensure that the National Contact Points are capable of carrying out the tasks entrusted to them. This includes checking if the National Contact Points proposed by the Member States fulfil all the necessary requirements and proposing the necessary actions to the Steering Board when it identifies persistent shortcomings in the work of a National Contact Point, which may have negative consequences in the work of the EMN;
- Finally, the Commission will award operating grants, co-financing the annual work programmes of the National Contact Points which fulfil all the necessary requirements.
The appointment of a service provider to assist the Commission is justified by the technical nature of certain coordination tasks, in particular the setting up of the IT system and Internet site and the preparation of synthesis reports, and by the complexity of ensuring appropriate cooperation between the 26 National Contact Points.
It is essential for the EMN to widely disseminate the information it produces in the form of studies and reports through the most advanced technological means, including the use of a dedicated web-site. The information exchange system is managed by the service provider which will assist the Commission, under the supervision of the latter. It is open to the public and its information is in principle accessible to all; exceptions to this general rule are, however, possible if sensitive/confidential information is communicated by the members of the EMN.
The information exchange system will inter alia contain the studies and reports prepared by the EMN, a migration and asylum thesaurus and a database of national and Community migration and asylum legislation.
The budgetary resources necessary for the functioning of the EMN will be entered in the annual appropriations of the general budget of the European Union. Such resources will co-finance (up to 80%) the eligible costs of the National Contact Points and will cover the costs of the service provider, plus other expenses including evaluation, special activities and support for newly created National Contact Points. The available annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework, which forecasts appropriations for the EMN amounting to € 59.7 million, for the period 2007-2013. However, the € 3 million foreseen for 2007 will not be used as the Network is expected to become operational from 1 January 2008 only. Therefore, for the period 2008-2013, there are foreseen appropriations of € 56.7 million. This will also mean that there will no longer be a one year delay between the budget line and implementation year.
It will be the Commission's responsibility to award grants to the National Contact Points which fulfil the necessary requirements and to establish a contractual relation with the service provider.
The impact assessment and legislative financial statement contain more information about the financing of the EMN.
The Council Decision is based on Art. 66 of the EC Treaty. Since 1 May 2004, pursuant to the Protocol on Article 67 of the Nice Treaty, these measures are taken by qualified majority voting in the Council and consultation of the European Parliament.
Article 66 of the EC Treaty concerns administrative cooperation between the relevant departments of the administrations of the Member States in a number of areas, including immigration and asylum, as well as between those departments and the Commission. Member States' administrations will have an important role through the designation of the National Contact Points and their participation in the Steering Board. Since many of the National Contact Points are likely to be governmental bodies, there will certainly be a high involvement of national administrations in the functioning of the EMN. These reasons justify the choice of Article 66 TEC as the legal base for the proposal.
Title IV of the EC Treaty is not applicable to the United Kingdom and to Ireland, unless these Member States decide otherwise in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Protocol on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed to the Treaties. Title IV is likewise not applicable to Denmark, by virtue of the Protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaties.
This proposal falls within the context of the establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice called for by the Treaties and reinforced by the Tampere and The Hague European Councils. More specifically, the measure aims at bringing together authorities, academia, researchers and other relevant stakeholders in the area of migration and asylum in the Member States so that they can provide the Community, its Member States and the public with objective, reliable and comparable information on the migration and asylum situation at the European and national levels. Since this purpose of improving cooperation and producing data and analysis on a European-wide basis cannot be achieved by the Member States alone, action is needed at Community level. The proposed Decision pursues the objective of a coordinated and uniform Union-wide enhancement of information mechanisms related to all migratory phenomena.
The proposal is limited to enhancing cooperation between national administrations and other organisations active in the areas of migration and asylum in order to provide the Community, its Member States and the public with objective, reliable and comparable information on the migration and asylum situation at the European and national levels. A Network-based structure has been preferred in order to maintain a federated structure and ensure an equitable representation of all Member States.
This proposal lays down only the minimum measures needed to attain the objectives pursued and does not go beyond what is necessary to that end. It is without prejudice to existing cooperation mechanisms and structures.
8. Relation of the EMN with other information exchange instruments/structures in the area of migration and asylum
The proposed objective of the EMN is to provide the Community, its Member States, and the public with objective, reliable and comparable information on the migration and asylum situation at the European and national levels with a view to supporting policy- and decision-making in the European Union in these areas. This is evidently linked to research and analysis, to raising awareness about the migratory phenomena in all their aspects, to providing policy-makers and the public with data, reports and studies that can be used as a base for an informed debate on asylum and migration.
The EMN will not be the only Community instrument/structure whose purpose is to collect and exchange information in the areas of migration and asylum. However, when compared with these other instruments/structures such as the ICONet, the Fundamental Rights Agency (including the RAXEN network), Eurostat, CIREFI, National Contact Points on Integration or the Mutual Information Mechanism, the EMN presents a number of particularities which provide it with a unique profile that can be summarised by the following three aspects:
- Broad scope of tasks;
- Strong focus on analysis and links with the academic community;
- Wide availability of its outputs (general public as well as policy-makers).
The Commission will endeavour, to the extent possible, to create synergies and avoid overlap between the work of the EMN and the activities of other related instruments and structures. In order to attain this objective, the Commission will use its capacity to propose the annual programme of activities of the EMN, as foreseen in Article 4 i (a).
Annex 1 to the Impact Assessment contains more detailed information on the differences between the EMN and other related instruments and structures.