The Czech Republic is traditionally taking part in the activities of organizations dealing with migration issues in the European context. Within the framework of the regular dialogue with the EU Member States the Czech Republic participated in the discussions on the illegal migration issues. The conclusion of these discussions is that visa regimes are used by all the countries which agree with the fact that such regimes are essential for an efficient visa policy and migration practice and recognize the role of visa regimes in the regulation of legal migratory movements and coping with illegal migration. In the course of 1998, the Czech Republic took part in several meetings of the Schengen Agreements, the parties to which have abolished controls on their internal borders in order to allow free movement of persons and goods, strengthening at the same time protection of the external borders. The Committee on Migration every year gains information on the migration situation in individual states of the Council of Europe.
Close attention is paid to the issues of integration of immigrants into the society.
With respect to the fact that the issues of integration of foreigners into the society gain in importance, in 1998 this committee was mapping particularly the situation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. One of its activities was the organizing of the Round Table discussions which took place in the Czech Republic in February 1998. The representatives of the governmental and non-governmental bodies and organizations participated in this event and exchanged views on the situation in the field of integration of foreigners into the Czech society. The representatives of foreigners living in the Czech Republic informed about the obstacles they have experienced when integrating into the Czech society. The Budapest Group, dealing with preventing illegal migration in the European region, continued in its activities in 1998.