Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) 2014-2020

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&D, FR) the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Asylum and Migration Fund.

The committee recommended that Parliament’s position adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:

Purpose of the Fund: the general objective of the Fund, shall be to contribute to the efficient management of migration flows and to the implementation, strengthening and development of the common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary protection and the common immigration policy, while fully respecting the rights and principles enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

Members stated that the Fund shall contribute to the following common specific objectives:

·        to strengthen and develop all aspects of the Common European Asylum System, including its external dimension;

·        to support legal migration to the Member States in line with their economic and social needs such as labour market needs, while safeguarding the integrity of the immigration systems of Member States, and to promote the effective integration of third-country nationals;

·        to enhance fair and effective return strategies in the Member States, which contribute to combating illegal immigration, with an emphasis on sustainability of return and effective readmission in the countries of origin and transit;

to enhance the solidarity and responsibility sharing between the Member States, in particular towards those most affected by migration and asylum flows, including through practical cooperation.

The achievement of the specific objectives of this Fund shall be evaluated using common indicators as set out in Annex IV and programme-specific indicators included in national programmes.

Union actions: to be eligible for funding, Union actions shall, in particular, support:

·        the furthering of Union cooperation in implementing Union law and in sharing good practices in the field of asylum, notably on resettlement and transfer of applicants for and/or beneficiaries of international protection from one Member State to another including through networking and exchanging information, legal migration, integration of third-country nationals, including arrival support and coordination activities to promote resettlement with the local communities that are to welcome resettled refugees, and return;

·        information measures and campaigns in third countries aimed at raising awareness of appropriate legal channels for immigration and the risks of illegal immigration.

Resources: the global resources for the implementation of this Regulation shall be EUR 3 137 million, used indicatively as follows:

·        EUR 2 752 million for national programmes of Member States;

·        EUR 385 million for Union actions, emergency assistance, European Migration Network and technical assistance of the Commission of which at least 30% shall be used for Union actions and European Migration Network.

EUR 2 752 million shall be allocated to the Member States indicatively as follows:

·        EUR 2 392 million at least 20% of which will go to supporting legal migration and at least 20% to asylum measures. Member States may depart from these minimum percentages only where a detailed explanation is included in the national programme. Those Member States faced with structural deficiencies in the area of accommodation, infrastructure and service shall not go below the minimum percentage laid down in the Regulation regarding asylum measures;

EUR 360 million based on the distribution mechanism for specific actions, and for the Union Resettlement Programme and for transfer of beneficiaries of international protection from one Member State to another.

Union Resettlement Programme: Member States shall, in addition to their allocation, receive every two years an additional amount based on a lump sum of EUR 6 000 for each resettled person. This shall be increased to EUR 10 000 for each vulnerable person resettled. 

With a view to implementing the principle of solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility and in light of EU policy developments within the implementation period of the Fund, Member States may receive an additional amount based on a lump sum of EUR 6 000 for each beneficiary of international protection transferred from another Member State.

Family members of such beneficiaries may also be eligible for lump sums where appropriate.