REGULATION (EU) 2021/1147 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL
of 7 July 2021
establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 78(2) and Article 79(2) and (4) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),
Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (3),
Whereas:
| (1) | In the context of the evolving migratory challenges characterised by the need to support strong reception, asylum, integration and migration systems in the Member States, to prevent and adequately handle situations of pressure in solidarity, and to replace irregular and unsafe arrivals with legal and safe pathways, investing in efficient and coordinated migration management in the Union is key to realising the Union’s objective of constituting an area of freedom, security and justice in accordance with Article 67(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). |
| (2) | The importance of a coordinated approach by the Union and the Member States is reflected in the European Agenda on Migration of 13 May 2015, which stressed the need for a consistent and clear common policy in order to restore confidence in the Union’s ability to bring together European and national efforts to address migration and to work together in an effective way, in accordance with the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between the Member States as set out in Article 80 TFEU; this was confirmed in the mid-term review of 27 September 2017 and the progress reports of 14 March 2018 and 16 May 2018. |
| (3) | In its conclusions of 19 October 2017, the European Council reaffirmed the need to pursue a comprehensive, pragmatic and resolute approach to migration management that aims to ensure control of external borders and reduce irregular arrivals and the number of deaths at sea; that approach should be based on the flexible and coordinated use of all available Union and Member State instruments. The European Council further called for the ensuring of significantly enhanced returns through actions at both Union and Member State level, such as effective readmission agreements and arrangements. |
| (4) | In order to support efforts to ensure a comprehensive approach to the management of migration that is grounded on mutual trust, solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility among Member States and Union institutions, with the objective of ensuring a common sustainable Union policy on asylum and immigration, Member States should be supported by adequate financial resources in the form of an Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (the ‘Fund’). |
| (5) | All actions funded under the Fund, including those carried out in third countries, should be implemented in full compliance with the rights and principles enshrined in the Union acquis and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’), and should be in line with the international obligations of the Union and the Member States arising from the international instruments to which they are party, in particular by ensuring compliance with the principles of gender equality, non-discrimination and the best interests of the child. |
| (6) | The best interests of the child should be a primary consideration in all actions or decisions concerning children in migration, including returns, taking full account of the right of the child to express his or her views. |
| (7) | The Fund should build on the results achieved and investments made with the support of its predecessors: the European Refugee Fund established by Decision No 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) for the period 2008-2013, the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals established by Council Decision 2007/435/EC (5) for the period 2007-2013, the European Return Fund established by Decision No 575/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) for the period 2008-2013 and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund established by Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) for the period 2014-2020. It should at the same time take into account all relevant new developments. |
| (8) | The Fund should support solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility between Member States and the efficient management of migration flows, inter alia, by promoting common measures in the area of asylum, including Member States’ efforts in receiving persons in need of international protection through resettlement and humanitarian admission and the transfer between Member States of applicants for international protection or beneficiaries of international protection, by enhancing the protection of vulnerable asylum seekers such as children, by supporting integration strategies and by developing and strengthening legal migration policy, for example, through the provision of safe and legal avenues of entry to the Union, which should also help to ensure the Union’s long-term competitiveness and the future of its social model and reduce incentives for irregular migration through a sustainable return and readmission policy. |
| (9) | Given the internal nature of the Fund and that the Fund is the main funding instrument for asylum and migration at Union level, the Fund should primarily support actions serving internal Union policy on asylum and migration in line with the Fund’s objectives. However, given that certain actions taken outside the Union contribute to the achievement of the Fund’s objectives and, under certain circumstances, may bring Union added value, the Fund should support the strengthening of cooperation and partnership with third countries for the purpose of managing migration in order to reinforce avenues of legal migration and enhance effective, safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as to promote initial reintegration in third countries. Support provided under the Fund would be without prejudice to the current voluntary nature of resettlement and relocation of applicants for international protection and beneficiaries of international protection under the legal framework of the Common European Asylum System that applies at the time of adoption of this Regulation. |
| (10) | In order to benefit from the expertise of relevant decentralised agencies, the Commission should ensure that their knowledge and experience is taken into account as regards the areas of their competence in the development of Member States’ programmes. Furthermore, it should be possible for the Fund to complement the following activities supported by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), established by Regulation (EU) No 439/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8), with a view to facilitating and improving the functioning of the Common European Asylum System: strengthening practical cooperation, in particular information exchanges regarding asylum and good practices; promoting Union and international law and contributing to the uniform implementation of Union law on asylum on the basis of high standards for international protection procedures, for reception conditions and for the assessment of protection needs across the Union; enabling the sustainable and fair distribution of applications for international protection; facilitating convergence in the assessment of applications for international protection across the Union; supporting the resettlement efforts of the Member States; and providing operational and technical assistance to Member States for the management of their asylum and reception systems, in particular those whose systems are subject to disproportionate pressure. |
| (11) | The Fund should support the efforts of the Union and the Member States to enhance the Member States’ capacity to develop, monitor and evaluate their asylum policies in the light of their obligations under Union law. |
| (12) | The Fund should support the Member States’ and the Union’s efforts to fully implement and further develop the Common European Asylum System, including its external dimension. |
| (13) | Partnerships and cooperation with third countries are an essential component of Union policy for managing migration. The Fund should contribute to replacing unsafe and irregular arrival with legal and safe arrival in the territory of the Member States of third-country nationals or stateless persons in need of international protection, expressing solidarity with countries in regions to which or within which a large number of persons in need of international protection have been displaced by helping to alleviate the pressure on those countries, and should effectively contribute to global resettlement initiatives with the Union and Member States speaking with one voice in international fora and with third countries. The Fund should provide support, in the form of financial incentives, to efforts made by Member States to provide international protection and a durable solution for refugees and displaced persons who have been admitted under resettlement or humanitarian admission programmes. |
| (14) | Considering the migration flows to the Union and the importance of ensuring integration and inclusion for persons coming to Europe for local communities and for the long-term well-being of our societies and the stability of our economies, it is crucial to support Member |
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