The European Fund for the Integration of Third-country nationals

This page gives a general presentation in three parts: Part I covers the latest developments which occurred within the recent years. Part II gives a general view of the matter concerned. Part III documents and reports.

I) Latest developments

NEW (12/01/2009):

Additional documents have been published for the Call for proposals 2009 of the Community actions of the European Integration Fund (guide for applicants, how to use the budget form and frequently asked questions on Priamos).
Please note that to participate to this Call for proposals, applicants must use Priamos, an electronic system for the submission of proposals, which allows the applicants to fill in an electronic application form and submit all relevant documents via the internet. In order to access the system, applicants need to register and subsequently use a password provided by the system. Please note that before you can access to the application forms of the Call, your registration must be validated by the Commission.
More information on how to use Priamos can also be found in the self learning material.

NEW (22/12/2009):

The 2009 call for proposals for Community Actions of the European Fund for the Integration of the third-country nationals is open. The deadline for submission of applications is 3 March 2010. Please note that application to this call for proposals is to be done via Priamos.

NEW (27/11/2009):

The evaluation of the INTI programme [1 MB] is available. The report has been prepared by an external consultant and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission, nor does the Commission accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein. Readers of this report will use it under their own responsibility. Neither- the Commission nor- the authors may be liable for direct or indirect damages related to the use of this report.

NEW (15/10/2009):

The Commission has adopted an annual work programme for the Community actions [61 KB] that specifies the objectives, the priorities for 2009, the funding conditions such as the maximum rate of co-financing of the costs of the projects, eligibility, exclusion, selection, and award criteria and other conditions related to the management of the funds.

NEW (03/06/2009):

The list of awarded projects in the framework of the 2007 Community Actions for the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals is available.

NEW (22/12/2008):

The 2008 call for proposals for Community Actions of the European Fund for the Integration of the third-country nationals is open. The deadline for submission of applications is 9 March 2009.
The documents related to the call for proposals are available in the right hand menu of this page.

NEW (10/01/2008):

The French and German translations of the Call for proposals 2007 are now available. Please note that only the English version of the Call for Proposals is the original version.

NEW (30/11/2007):

The 2007 call for proposals for Community Actions of the European Fund for the Integration of the third-country nationals is open. The deadline for submission of the proposal is the 31 January 2008.
The documents related to the call for proposals are available in the right hand menu of this page.
The call for proposals for the Community Actions under the Integration Fund is different from the previous INTI call for proposals. Please read carefully the new documents and the guide for applicants of this call.

On the basis of a Commission proposal (COM (2005) 123 final, COM (2005) 123 final/3) the EP and the Council agreed by the end of 2006 on a draft Decision establishing the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals for the period 2007 – 2013 as part of the general programme 'Solidarity and management of migration flows'. Adoption of the Decision will take place in spring 2007. The Decision will enter into force the day following the publication in the Official Journal.

The Commission has adopted an annual work programme for the Community Actions (PDF File 54 KB) that specifies the objectives, the priorities for 2007, the funding conditions such as the maximum rate of co-financing of the costs of the projects, eligibility, exclusion, selection, and award criteria and other conditions related to the management of the funds.

 

II) General context

To know more about the Framework Programme, you will find below information about its main characteristics:

1. Purpose
2. Beneficiaries
3. Resources and financial structure
4. National programmes
5. Community Actions

1. Purpose

The general objective of the instrument (applicable as of 1 January 2007) is to support the efforts of Member States to enable third country nationals to fulfil the conditions of residence and to facilitate their integration into European societies, in accordance with the Common Basic Principles for immigrant integration policy in the European Union.

The Fund is targeted primarily to newly arrived third country nationals for actions supporting the integration process of third country nationals in Member States. It will also support enhancing the capacity of Member States to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate in general all integration strategies, policies and measures for third country nationals and the exchange of information, best practice and co-operation in and between Member States.

Its actions will be complementary to the specific actions to increase the participation of migrants in employment under the European Social Fund (ESF).

It does not cover integration for refugees and beneficiaries of subsidiary protection as such actions fall under the European Refugee Fund (ERF).

2. Beneficiaries

All Member States participate, except Denmark. UK and Ireland have opted in.

3. Resources and financial structure

825 million Euro for the period 2007 – 2013 is divided as follows:

• 768 million distributed among the states on the basis of objective criteria expressing the the number of legally staying third country nationals ('solidarity');
• 57 million (7% of the total annual resources each year) for Community actions.

4. National programmes

On the basis of Community strategic guidelines and in dialogue with the Commission, each beneficiary Member State will develop their own multi-annual programming strategy (2007 – 2013) on the use of the resources they receive each year. The strategy will constitute the framework for the implementation of actions through annual programmes. Each beneficiary state should take adequate measures to guarantee the proper functioning of their management and control system and the quality of implementation of their programmes.

Before 1 March each year the Commission shall approve the annual programme of each beneficiary Member State and take the necessary financing decision, allocating a pre-financing payment of 50%. Further payments will depend on the progress in implementation of the actions.

50% or, for Cohesion Fund countries and actions implementing specific priorities of the strategic guidelines, 75% of the actions can be co-financed by the Fund.

Examples of measures to co-finance are intercultural training and dialogue, platforms and networks and tools for comparative learning and programmes and activities in Member States aiming at introducing newly arrived third country nationals to the host society and enabling them to acquire basic knowledge about the host society's language, history, institutions, socio-economic features, cultural life and the fundamental norms and values, including such programmes and activities before arrival (pre-departure measures in third countries).

5. Community Actions

Each year the Commission shall adopt an annual work programme and invite bids for calls for proposals and/or tenders for transnational actions and actions in the interest of the Community. The Commission shall be responsible for the management of the actions selected (centralised management). The annual work programmes will build on past experiences, in particular the pilot projects and the preparatory actions for integration of third-country nationals (INTI).

 

III) Documents and Reports

Document name	Language	Format [Size]
2009
Call for proposals "Community actions" 2009		[63 KB]
Annual work programme 2009 of the Community actions of the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals		[61 KB]
2008
Call for proposals "Community actions" 2008		[69 KB]
Annual work programme 2008 of the Community actions of the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals		[63 KB]
2007
Awarded projects		[16 KB]
Call for proposals "Community actions" 2007		[76 KB]
Annual work programme 2007 of the Community actions of the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals		[54 KB]