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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 States 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" (SOLID).
SOLID: one General Programme, four Funds
For the period 2007–13, the General Programme SOLID allocates almost EUR 4 billion to ensure the fair sharing of responsibilities between EU States 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. SOLID consists of four instruments:
| SOLID (2007-13) – Four instruments |
Total m € |
Type of actions funded |
| External Borders Fund (EBF) |
1 820 |
Infrastructure and equipment for EU external borders and visa policy, national components of SIS/VIS |
| European Return Fund (RF) |
630 |
Voluntary and forced return, including joint return operations, cooperation between return agencies |
| European Refugee Fund (ERF) |
700 |
Capacity building (asylum procedures, reception infrastructure), integration of refugees, resettlement, emergency measures |
| European Integration Fund (EIF) |
825 |
Provision of integration measures, such as language courses, courses of civic orientation, pre-departure measures in non-EU countries |
| Total |
3 975 |
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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 States 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, which are also supported by the SOLID Programme, 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 SOLID Funds
- National Programmes: the Funds are mainly implemented by EU States (shared management), on the basis of strategic guidelines defined at EU level and within individual multi-annual programming strategies and annual national programmes drawn up by EU States and discussed with and approved by the Commission. Up to 50 % of the cost of the actions can be co-financed by the Funds. Under specific conditions (for Cohesion Fund countries and actions on specific priorities), the co-financing can amount up to 75 %. In each beneficiary State, a national authority responsible for the management of the Funds provides information on the General Programme SOLID, on the National Programmes and on the beneficiaries.
- 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, which are managed by the Commission. For these actions, the Commission adopts annual work programmes that define the priorities and objectives for each year, including the priorities for the calls for proposals.
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