Migration is high on the public and political agendas, but the migration narrative is not always free from bias. At the same time, it is acknowledged that integrating migrants poses considerable challenges to host societies. It is with all these challenges in mind that the EU auditors have examined how the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) has supported the integration of third-country nationals into the EU.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the number of third-country nationals in the EU rose to 27.3 million, i.e. 6.1 % of the EU’s total population. If all the EU’s third-country nationals were grouped together as one country, it would be among the most populous in the EU.
An inability to integrate migrants can lead to the fracturing of European societies. There are socio-economic gaps between third-country nationals and EU citizens, carrying the risk not only of poverty and social exclusion, but also of higher unemployment. The data show that public attitudes reflect the success of integration policies. Where such policies are well designed, the host population will be more accepting of migrants.
It is up to the EU member states to devise their own national strategies for integrating migrants. This means that EU support applies to systems that may vary widely from one country to the next. The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) is an EU financial instrument for integrating migrants. It totalled approximately €1 billion for 2014-2020, and has almost doubled for 2021-2027. Nearly 10 million people were supported by integration measures in 2014-2020 at a cost to the EU of almost 800 million euros.
The EU auditors have examined how the European Commission and the member states, within their various remits, made sound and effective use of AMIF support to integrate migrants. The auditors also worked on the spot in France, Germany, Sweden and Spain.
The audit report, which is due by the end of this year, does not cover people residing in the EU illegally. It will complement the already comprehensive picture of EU migration policy that the ECA has provided from various angles in recent years: the ‘hotspot’ approach in response to the refugee crisis, asylum and return procedures, and readmission cooperation with third countries.
Source – ECA