In its Communication on a ‘European Agenda for Migration’, the Commission set out four key focus areas: A strong Common Asylum System; A new European policy on legal migration; Fighting irregular migration and human trafficking more robustly; and Securing Europe’s external borders.
In this Communication, Cohesion Policy is highlighted as an important funding source to support effective integration policies covering education, employment, housing and non-discrimination policies. While competence lies primarily with the Member States, the European Union can also support Member States, local authorities and civil society organisations to deal with these pressing issues.
Coordination mechanisms between the funding sources, such as the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the ESI Funds should be established both at the European and national level in order to reinforce synergies.