(PDF File 56 KB)
(Word File 725 KB)
(XLS File 126 KB) 
ARGO - external borders, asylum, visas and immigration
This page gives a general presentation in three parts:
I) Latest developments
ARGO is an action programme for administrative cooperation at European Union level in the fields of asylum, , visas, immigration and external borders, replacing in part the Odysseus programme.
|
NEW: On 18 January 2007 the Commission adopted the Decision adopting a list of projects accepted for Community financing in 2006 under the action programme for administrative cooperation in the fields of external borders, visas, asylum and immigration (ARGO programme). Grants were awarded to 11 projects |
Contact for the ARGO programme: e-mail
II) General context
The European Commission put forward this new programme for administrative cooperation in the fields of external borders, visas, asylum and immigration for when the Odysseus programme came to an end. The ARGO programme covers the period from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2006.
What are the programme’s objectives?
- To promote cooperation between national administrations responsible for implementing Community rules and to ensure that proper account is taken of the Community dimension in their actions
- To promote the uniform application of Community law
- To encourage transparency of actions taken by the national authorities and to improve the overall efficiency of national administrations in their tasks
In which areas will the programme support activities?
- External borders (e.g. effectiveness of controls at the external borders)
- Visas (e.g. compliance with the principles of Community legislation on issuing visas, harmonisation of rules on the examination of visa applications, harmonisation of exceptions, etc.)
- Asylum (e.g. establishment of a common European asylum system, determination of the State responsible for examining an asylum application, approximation of rules on the recognition and content of refugee status, etc.)
- Immigration (e.g. effective, and homogeneous application of rules on legal immigration, fight against illegal immigration and return of illegal residents, etc.)
What type of actions will the programme support?
- Training actions
- Staff exchange
- Actions promoting the computerised handling of files and electronic data exchange
- Setting up of common operative centres and of teams composed of staff drawn from two or more Member States
- Studies, conferences and seminars
- Member States’ co-operation activities in third countries
What are the conditions to be eligible for co-financing under the ARGO programme?
Actions must be proposed by the national agencies of one Member State and involve at least two other Member States or another Member State and either a candidate country or a third country. The ARGO action programme may finance up to 60 % of the cost of the action (or up to 80 % in exceptional circumstances). The co-financing of an action by the ARGO action programme shall be exclusive of any other financing by another programme financed by the budget of the European Communities.
What will be the role of the European Commission?
The Commission shall be responsible for the management and implementation of the ARGO action programme, in partnership with the Member States. It must also prepare an annual work programme and evaluate and select the actions proposed. The actions are evaluated on the basis of specific criteria such as conformity with the annual work programme, the European dimension of the action, the inherent quality of the action, the amount of the support requested, etc. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee, ‘the ARGO Committee’, composed of representatives of the Member States.
The Commission may propose its own actions that will be indicated in the annual work programme.
Each year, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the ARGO action programme. The Commission submitted the first report in February 2004 and the second report will be available by mid-2006.
For more information, please contact to: JLS-ARGO@ec.europa.eu