Migration and Home Affairs

Today, the European Commission published the results of the Flash Eurobarometer survey on the protection of children against online sexual abuse. They show that a growing majority of Europeans (74%) consider child sexual abuse online to be a widespread problem. About 96% of Europeans see the ability to detect child sexual abuse online as more important than the right to online privacy. Read more in the article.

This year’s Eurobarometer surveys on corruption found that 4 in 10 citizens believe corruption rose in their country over the past three years, with now over 70% saying that corruption is widespread in their country. At the same time, more than 6 out of 10 (64%) say corruption is unacceptable. The Commission has stepped-up its efforts on the anti-corruption front. New measures adopted in May 2023, criminalise corruption offences and harmonise penalties across the EU. They are expected to enable Member State authorities to prevent and fight corruption more effectively.

The Regional Development and Protection Programmes (RDPPs) in North Africa and the Horn of Africa are funded through the EU Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). RDPPs were set up in 2015 and have funded 57 projects for a total amount of EUR 67,300,000. The funds assisted third countries to address the protection and needs of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, support the efforts of the migrant and refugee hosting communities, and work closely with the authorities.

With arrivals on the rise and only one First Reception Centre (FRC), Cyprus’ migration management system has been under a lot of strain. To address the situation, the European Commission partnered with the Cypriot authorities and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and is now financing large-scale upgrades in the Pournara FRC. € 22 million were made available from the 2021-2027 Asylum Migration and Integration Fund. The Deputy Director-General of DG HOME, Beate Gminder, visited the site on 7 July to assess the progress achieved in enhancing first reception capacity on the island.

The EU-NATO Task Force on resilience of critical infrastructure launched earlier this year in March has now presented a final assessment report, which maps out the current security challenges and identifies four key sectors of cross-cutting importance: energy, transport, digital infrastructure and space. The report presents targeted recommendations to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure.

On 21 June 2023, the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the EU-US Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs in Stockholm. The meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of the European Union and the United States to a strong transatlantic partnership, at a time of major geopolitical challenges. The United States and the European Union once again condemned Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine.

The European Union is preparing for the launch of two new border management initiatives that will affect travel to Europe: the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) and the Entry/Exit Systems (EES). How will travel rules change and how are these two systems different? Find out below.

In her latest blog post, Commissioner Johansson underlines the need for swift adoption of the proposed Regulation on Child Sexual Abuse, highlighting that detection is often the only way to start investigations and rescue children from abuse. Recent Eurobarometer findings also point to overwhelming support for legislation to address this issue.

In Spain, two Emergency Assistance (EMAS) projects funded by the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) were set up to ensure better reception and registration of migrants. The projects ran throughout 2021-2022, stabilising the situation on the ground after the significant increase of arrivals in 2020, and helped pave the way to a more sustainable and overall better integrated management of migration.

Illicit drugs pose a complex security and health risk which affects millions of people in the European Union. To reduce drug supply, demand, and harm, the EU works closely with partners at national and international level, including EU institutions, agencies, administrations in Member States as well as civil society organisations. Read more in this outline.

The 8th European Migration Forum will meet for the eight time on 4-5 December, 2023 to discuss migration, asylum and migrant integration. As the forum is by invitation only, the call for expression of interest to participate is now open. Please fill out the application form in the link here by 14 September, 2023.

Save the date and register for this year's Security Research Event (SRE). An annual meeting where industry, policy makers and knowledge institutions come together to discuss the state of play and current challenges for security research in Europe. This year’s event will focus on challenges stemming from global megatrends, which are shifting the ground for security in the EU. The main themes are embraced by the event’s title: “Societal transformations, climate change and digitalisation – a new paradigm of Security Research?”