Migration and Home Affairs

On 3 May 2023, the Commission adopted new anti-corruption measures. This includes a proposal for a new Directive on combating corruption by criminal law. It aims to update EU rules on definitions and penalties for corruption offences to ensure adequate measures against the full range of corruption crimes. The Commission strengthens efforts to integrate the prevention of corruption into the design of EU policies and programmes, and actively supporting Member States’ work to put in place strong anti-corruption policies and legislation.

Citizens of Kosovo will be allowed to travel to the EU without a visa, for periods of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. Once this law is in place, the entire Western Balkans region will have a similar visa framework for the Schengen area. The visa exemption will enter into force from January 2024.

From April 2021 to February 2023, the EU provided EUR 25.3 million under an Emergency Support Instrument to support Greece’s health system during the COVID 19 pandemic. These funds were used specifically for the reception of migrants in Greece.

300 migrant women living in the suburbs of Milan, Barcelona, Malmo and Amsterdam were supported to become a part of their local community. This project looked at local social life, public services, gender equality and access to jobs.

There are dozens of unofficial ETIAS websites, often pretending to provide official information about the European Union’s upcoming and not yet in practice travel requirements for visa-free nationals, in many languages. Some of the information on these websites related to ETIAS is simply wrong. Many of them illegally use the official EU logo, pretending to be an official EU website, while others already collect travellers’ personal data, which is concerning.

Catering to the specific interest of Security Research news, the DG HOME Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) launched a newsletter on its activities. Topics include future threats to security, new tools for police and border guards as well as the use of artificial intelligence to fight crime and terrorism. Sign up to their newsletter at the link below.

2022 was a year marked by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. This forced the displacement of the largest number of people since the second world war. The EU quickly activated the Temporary Protection Directive to welcome displaced people and acted on solidarity offered from all countries. Further updates in the report include the work on migration, security and Schengen.

On 6 May European institutions organise the EU Open Day in Brussels. DG HOME will be at the “Safe Europe Village" at the Berlaymont building to showcase security related projects. There will be demonstrations from mine detection sniffer dogs.

A call for proposals for EUR 1 000 000 to fund projects for data sets for the European Data Space for innovation is open. Deadline for applications is 4 July.

Are you working on a project in migration? The European Commission has published six calls for funding of projects in the areas of asylum, migration and integration. The call is open for applications until 16 May.

A public consultation on the digitalisation of travel documents is open until 28 June. Reply and share your experience to shape and decide a common format for future digital travel documents.