Migration has been a constant feature of human history. Today, people, just like their ancestors, move to escape wars, poverty, hunger, adverse climate events, looking for better conditions for their future life.
At the same time, migration is also a global challenge, which calls for a common European response fully grounded in European values. It is a complex issue which has many aspects that need to be tackled
- ensuring fast and fair asylum procedures and effective returns
- providing legal pathways to the EU
- preventing irregular migration
- fighting migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings
- ensuring security of EU external borders
Migration in numbers
While irregular migration is often in the spotlight, the reality is that irregular entries account for a small fraction of migration in the EU.
Based on the latest annual figures, migration to and from the EU looks like this (data for 2021)
Pact on Migration and Asylum
The Pact on Migration and Asylum is a comprehensive approach that delivers a common European response to migration. It allows the EU to manage migration in a fair and sustainable way, ensuring solidarity between Member States while also providing certainty and clarity for people arriving in the EU and protecting their fundamental rights. Proposed by the Commission in September 2020, the Pact was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2024.
The Pact on Migration and Asylum will ensure that Member States share the effort responsibly, showing solidarity with the ones that protect our external borders and with those facing particular migratory pressure, while preventing irregular migration to the EU.
The Pact also gives the EU and its Member States the tools to react rapidly in situations of crisis, when Member States are faced with large numbers of arrivals or when a third-country or non-State entity tries to instrumentalise migrants in order to destabilise our Union.
Key policies
Asylum seekers and refugees
Through the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the EU will strengthen the management of asylum applications in the EU, protecting refugees and people in need of international protection, as well as supporting refugee-host countries.
The migratory routes of refugees are often full of hardship and danger, with thousands risking their lives across deserts and seas in the hope of a better future. The EU is working with EU Member States and international partners on resettlement and complementary pathways for migrants from priority regions and is pushing for scaling-up admission places.
Legal migration: attracting skills and talent
Legal migration is essential for economic prosperity. Amidst an ageing EU population and more and more green and digital jobs that need new skills, European employers are struggling to find the workers they need. To better attract and retain talent, the Commission adopted the Skills and Talent Package in April 2022.
As part of this package, the Commission proposed the revision of the Single Permit Directive and the Long-term Residents Directive, and the creation of an EU Talent Pool.
The revision of the Long-Term Residents Directive will
- simplify admission conditions, thus making it easier to acquire the EU long-term residence status
- enhance the rights of long-term residents and their family members
The revised Single-Permit Directive will
- streamline the procedure for combined work and residence, thus making the process easier and quicker for applicants and employers
- allow applicants to lodge applications both from non-EU countries and EU Member States
A political agreement was reached on 18 December 2023 between co-legislators. The revised rules provide for a common set of rights for workers from non-EU countries, regarding working conditions, social security, recognition of qualifications, and tax benefits.
The EU Talent Pool, which was proposed by the Commission in November 2023, will be the first EU-wide tool aimed at facilitating international recruitment and providing opportunities for third-country nationals to work in the EU.
Schengen area
Schengen is the area without controls at internal borders that underpins the freedom of movement for more than 425 million of EU citizens, along with non-EU nationals living in or visiting the EU. Reintroducing border controls must remain exceptional, strictly limited in time and a measure of last resort if a serious threat to public policy or internal security has been established. Free movement of people, goods and services must be ensured in the Schengen area.
The proposal to amend the Schengen Borders Code has three main objectives
- to offer new tools to ensure that internal border checks remain a measure of last resort and to provide flexibility to Member States’ use of alternative and proportionate measures
- to build on lessons-learned from the COVID-19 pandemic
- to respond to the recent challenges at EU’s external borders
Visa policy and digitalisation of Schengen visa
On 13 June 2023, the European Parliament and the Council found a political agreement allowing for the digitalisation of the Schengen visa procedure. The new rules will modernise the visa procedures by setting up an EU online visa application platform and digitising the current visa sticker. In autumn 2023, the Commission proposed to revise the visa suspension mechanism to allow EU countries to better counter possible abuses of visa-free travel.
Strengthening EU external borders
Member States have the primary responsibility for the management of their sections of the EU’s external borders. However, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) provides Member States with technical and operational support, at their request, both in external border management and return operations.
Frontex includes the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps, that will have 10 000 staff by 2027, to increase the effectiveness of European integrated border management.
Based on status agreements, Frontex also deploys the Standing Corps and technical equipment in non-EU countries, in particular those on key migratory routes. The EU has currently status agreements with Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia.
EU law requires that the European Border and Coast Guard, that includes Frontex and the border management authorities of Member States, carry out their tasks in full compliance with fundamental rights.
EU funds focus on improving the border management capabilities of EU Member States, such as patrol cars, electronic surveillance, patrol vessels or surveillance aircrafts.
Pilot projects that focus on border procedures to showcase best practices, regarding for example registration, fast and fair asylum procedures, return procedures have been launched with Romania and Bulgaria. Frontex, the EU Agency for Asylum, and Europol support these pilot projects.
Fighting migrant smuggling
Smuggling networks use a range of tools at their disposal for criminal purposes, both online and offline, and their methods change quickly and frequently. The EU urgently needs new tools to fight these criminal networks.
In line with its renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling (2021-2025), the Commission has presented in November 2023 two legislative proposals that will bring the EU up to speed in this fight by
- Preventing and countering the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit, and stay in the EU
- A stronger Europol to better fight migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings
In order to strengthen international cooperation on the prevention and response to migrant smuggling as well as providing alternatives to irregular migration, the Commission launched on 28 November 2023 a Global Alliance to Counter Migrant Smuggling.
International partnerships
For the EU migration policy to be successful, we need to further strengthen our mutually beneficial partnerships with non-EU countries.
The Commission is engaging more closely with key partners, countries of origin and transit to reduce irregular migration by jointly fighting migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings that puts people’s lives at risk. Effective returns also send a strong signal to smugglers.
The Commission is working on building safe and legal pathways to the EU and supporting our partners in tackling the root causes of irregular migration. This includes providing more opportunities for young people, including jobs in their respective countries.
Through its financial assistance, such as the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument or the Global Gateway, the EU is supporting investments in education, business opportunities and faster job creation, and in mitigating the impact of climate change in numerous countries.