Today, the Commission adopted a proposal to amend Regulation 862/2007 on statistics on migration and international protection to provide the information needed to support the European Agenda on Migration. This proposal forms an integral part of the package 'Delivering on the EU agenda on Migration', which includes several other migration-related legislative initiatives proposed by the Commission.
The Commission (Eurostat) has identified the need for more detailed, frequent and timely statistics on asylum and managed migration. These statistics would contribute to a more comprehensive and regular overview of the situation in the asylum and managed migration area.
The proposal adopted today amends Regulation 862/2007 and fills the most urgent gaps. This proposal is based on existing voluntary data collections. It introduces some flexibility so that the Comission can meet new and emerging data needs more rapidly in the future.
Most importantly, this proposal is intended to provide better data on unaccompanied minors seeking asylum and to improve the frequency and level of detail of information on returns. It is designed to ensure that age and sex information is collected for statistics on residence permits. The proposal also introduces improvements to the data collection on the Dublin system and resettlement.
Todayˈs initiative makes EU statistics on migration more relevant and responsive. Migration is a fast-changing phenomenon, which requires policies that can react quickly to new needs. This means that statistical information must be even more comprehensive and available faster to stay relevant.
More information
The proposal COM(2018) 307
Statistics on asylum and managed migration