Legislative Observatory
European Parliament
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European Migration Network (EMN)

2007/0167(CNS)

The Commission presented a staff working document on the 2012 European Migration Network (EMN) Status Report.

This fourth Status Report focuses on progress made by the EMN during 2012. To recall, the core activity of the EMN continued to be the collection and analysis of information to support policymaking on migration and asylum in EU Member States.

The Status Report’s conclusions mirror, to a certain extent, the requirements for the EMN which were set out in the Report on the Development of the European Migration Network.

More precisely, the report concluded that momentum has increased throughout the year in relation to improving the relevance and format of EMN outputs and products for policymaking, through creating new formats and by involving relevant policymakers at the earliest opportunity. A significant development during 2012 was the participation of Croatia as an observer in the EMN.

Future identified development needs should aim to:

  • provide comparative, factual information: the report stressed that the development of a common EU migration policy continues to require comparative, factual information to inform policy approaches based on reliable evidence and analysis covering a wide range of perspectives, in a format that is accessible and can meet policymakers’ immediate needs. EMN Ad-Hoc Queries continued to be a highly responsive mechanism for collecting comparative information within a short time-frame;
  • extend the scope of information sources in two respects: (i) through its national networks and, (ii) through its links with other relevant EU/international bodies. Each EMN NCP should be able to act as the national hub for information gathering and analysis, and for the EMN as a whole to extend its cooperation with international entities;
  • strengthen cooperation and collaboration with other relevant EU/international bodies: a significant development in 2012 was the increase in the number of invited representatives notably from the Commission's Eurostat, the European Parliament, the Fundamental Rights Agency, the EASO, the EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator and Frontex. Collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe is also being negotiated in relation to their Task Force on Circular Migration;
  • enhance the EMN’s visibility: further change is needed in the way the EMN outputs are presented to the wider public, in recognition of the fact that migration remains a widely debated and sometimes contentious issue in the EU, often based on misleading or incorrect information. The Report called for the EMN to target the media (including social media) and other information multipliers.

These development needs will continue to be addressed through the activities of the EMN during 2013.