Migration, Asylum and Borders

Although the movements of persons into, out of and within each EU State vary, our societies share similar migration challenges and opportunities. This is all the more significant for the EU as an area without internal borders. Therefore, EU countries have decided to join forces. Through practical cooperation, information sharing and the synchronisation of national responses to migration, they have set up a common, comprehensive approach to migration management. This approach is underpinned by the General Programme "Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows".

One General Programme, four Funds

For the period 2007–13, the General Programme "Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows" allocates almost EUR 4 billion to ensure the fair sharing of responsibilities between EU countries for the financial burden that arises from the integrated management of the Union's external borders and from the implementation of common asylum and immigration policies. This General Programme consists of four instruments:

Through these instruments, the EU not only seeks to strengthen its common migration, asylum and border policies, but also to uphold European solidarity, so that those EU countries that face the largest financial burden are adequately supported.

Other funding initiatives

• The European Migration Network (EMN) aims to respond to EU institutions' and to EU State authorities' and institutions' needs for information on migration and asylum, by providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable data, with a view to supporting policy-making.
• The Pilot Projects on Resettlement, Victims of Torture and Unaccompanied Minors aim at co-financing projects in the respective fields, promoting good practices and supporting the actors involved in resettlement and the protection of victims of torture and of unaccompanied minors.

Implementation mechanisms of the Funds

National Programmes: the Funds are implemented by EU countries through shared management. This means that each EU countries implements the Fund through national annual programmes on the basis of multiannual programming. These programmes are prepared, implemented, monitored and evaluated by EU countries in partnership with other designated authorities and bodies.

The countries who are beneficiaries of the Funds are mainly the EU Countries. However, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland are also beneficiaries of the External Borders Fund.

Community Actions: at the Commission's initiative, a certain percentage (ranging from 4 to 10) of each Fund's available resources may be used to finance transnational actions or actions of interest to the EU as a whole.