Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Community action programme to promote the integration of refugees'
Date: 1999-10-20
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU aid, EU programme, action programme, aid to refugees, integration of migrants, refugee

20.12.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 368/19

— If, as is hoped, the codification process makes Community
law clearer and more accessible, DG V could explore the

possibility of supplementary instruments and measures to
promote better implementation of existing legislation.

Brussels, 20 October 1999.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Council Decision
establishing a Community action programme to promote the integration of refugees’

(1999/C 368/08)

On 5 July 1999, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 262
of the Treaty on European Union, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 30 September 1999. The rapporteur was
Mrs zu Eulenberg.

At its 367th plenary session of 20/21 October 1999 (meeting of 20 October) the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following opinion by 107 votes to one with two abstentions.

1. General comments

Against the background of this generally favourable opinion,
the ESC would, however, make a few proposals for changes to
the current document, which are set out and explained below:

This opinion examines a Community action programme
promoting the integration of people who have been recognised
as refugees ‘or, depending on the Member State concerned,
granted some other form of protection enabling them to
remain, and are therefore suitable candidates for full assimi-
lation into the society of the Member States’ (page 3 of the
in
proposal). At the request of the European Parliament,
December 1998 the European Commission submitted a corre-
sponding proposal for a Council Decision.

The ESC is extremely glad that, at the request of the European
Parliament, the Commission has submitted the Proposal for a
Council Decision establishing a Community action programme
to promote the integration of refugees. The ESC endorses both
the explanatory memorandum and the body of the proposal
and sees in the action programme an important instrument
for underpinning and continuing the positive results of the
pilot actions, and for reacting in a coherent way to the
challenges facing the European Union and its Member States
in connection with the integration of refugees. Against this
background the ESC stresses the importance of modelling the
action programme closely on the pilot actions, e.g. in terms of
timing, and ensuring that it is implemented as rapidly as
possible. The ESC also considers the 18-month term of the
programme to be essential.

1.1. Funding policy background to the proposed action programme

1.1.1.
The integration of refugees who have found shelter
and protection in the EU Member States has become a matter
of increasing concern in recent years. At the request of the
European Parliament, in 1997 and 1998 a number of pilot
actions promoting the integration of refugees were funded
under budget heading B3-4113. The action programme under
review here, which was adopted by the Commission in
December 1998, reflects the performance of the pilot actions.

1.1.2.
On 13 January 1999 the Commission also submitted
a complementary proposal for a joint action establishing
measures to provide practical support in relation to the
reception and the voluntary repatriation of refugees, displaced
persons and asylum applicants (COM(1998) 733 final). The
proposal is based on work carried out under budget headings
B5-803 and B7-6008 during the same period.

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1.1.3.
For 1999 the European Union’s budget authority has
set aside 5 million euros under budget heading B3-4113 for
preparatory measures to promote the integration of refugees.
The purpose of these measures is to prepare the proposals
contained in the action programme and test their feasibility.

If the proposed action programme is approved by
1.1.4.
the Council during 1999, the programme will be up and
running in the year 2000.

The action programme aims to provide a legal basis
1.1.5.
for continuing the work and guarantee a smooth transition to
the Community action to promote social inclusion, as in the
medium term it is intended that the measures in respect of
refugees will be taken forward as part of Community action to
promote social inclusion (under Article 137 of the EC Treaty
as amended by the Treaty of Amsterdam). (See page 4 of the
proposal.)

— the continuity of funding should be guaranteed in order to

sustain these projects and their results.

1.2.2.
A lack of continuity in this important area of work
could mean that the good start made by the EU-assisted
projects would go to waste and that
in many Member
States inadequate national funding programmes would neither
provide nor envisage resources to pursue these activities.

1.2.3.
That is why we consider it necessary to continue EU
assistance. The action programme needs to be adopted as
quickly as possible in order to achieve a seamless transition
between the preparatory measures and the action programme.

1.3.

Integration background to the proposed action programme

1.1.6.
The proposed action programme thus has two
functions. Firstly, to provide a smooth transition between the
preparatory measures of the 1999 financial year and the
proposed Community action to promote social
inclusion.
Secondly, to maintain the added value created by the multiyear
projects already in place.

1.3.1.
The proposal for a Council Decision establishing a
Community action programme to promote the integration of
refugees refers to ‘a global approach for refugees, displaced
persons and asylum applicants’
(page 2). The European
Parliament called upon the Commission to draft such an
approach based on existing measures. This is now set out in
the following two complementary proposals:

Although adoption of the decision was scheduled for
1.1.7.
the first half of 1999, this could not be achieved under the
German presidency.

1.2. Assessing the funding policy background to the proposed action

programme

In terms of

1.2.1.
the
adoption of the draft decision by the Council of the European
Union is desirable in several respects:

its funding policy background,

— the pilot actions completed or under way in 1998 and
1999 under budget heading B3-4113 have in all Member
States developed and improved the structures for assimilat-
ing refugees;

— Europe-wide public awareness campaigns have been car-
integration networks have been established,
ried out,
non-governmental organisations have been able
to
enhance their cooperation on refugees in a systematic and
targeted fashion (1);

— the proposal for a joint action establishing measures to
provide practical support in relation to the reception and
the voluntary repatriation of refugees, displaced persons
and asylum applicants (on the basis of Article K.3 of the
EU Treaty) (COM(1998) 733);

— and the proposal currently under discussion for a Council
decision establishing a Community action programme to
promote the integration of refugees (on the basis of Article
235 of the EC Treaty) (COM(1998) 731).

1.3.2.
The measures proposed in the action programme
focus on ‘people who have been recognised as refugees or,
depending on the Member State concerned, granted some
other form of protection enabling them to remain, and are
therefore suitable candidates for full assimilation into the
society of the Member States’ (page 3).

By way of

1.3.3.
justifying the action programme to
promote the integration of refugees the Commission proposal
cites the need ‘to act at European level as a consequence of
growing public awareness that xenophobia, lack of integration,
and social exclusion are fundamental challenges to democratic
society’
(page 3). Emphasis is also placed on the refugee
phenomenon, and its increasing scale and impact in the
Member States (idem).

(1) Report on action taken and on the selection of projects in 1998,
budget heading B3-4113 — Integration of refugees, European
Commission, DG V [see also enclosed information brochures on
the project ‘Joint Force for Integration’ issued by the Platform of
the European Red Cross Cooperation for Refugees, Asylum
Seekers and Migrants and the ‘Task Force on Integration’ issued
by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)].

1.3.4. With regard to refugees as a particularly vulnerable
population group, the Commission proposal mentions specific
integration measures taking into account the circumstances of
their exile and particularly the initial phase of their integration
into a host society.

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1.3.5.
In addition to transferability and innovation, empha-
sis is placed on the principles of partnership and participation.
The principle of partnership is to be implemented using a
multidimensional approach involving cooperation between
two or more partners. To implement the principle of partici-
pation, the cooperation partners need to ensure the direct
participation of the refugees.

1.3.6.
The European nature of the programme is designed
to establish synergistic effects and transfers of good practice
and experience which are not feasible at national level and
which are not covered by existing EU programmes.
‘Such
measures, which can act as a bridge into mainstream actions
designed to promote integration, do not at present fall directly
within other Community interventions, be it action against
racism, social exclusion, or Structural Funds intervention’
(page 4).

1.3.7.
Since the proposal was submitted by the European
Commission on 16 December 1998 it has been discussed by
various European and national bodies and institutions. On
18 March 1999, the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal
Affairs of the European Parliament held a discussion on the
various EU measures in the field of asylum and migration.
Looking towards the forthcoming ratification of the Treaty of
Amsterdam the Committee’s members stressed that it was a
genuine European area of action, as immigration and asylum
policy now fall within the Community remit. On the basis of
a report drafted by Mrs Zimmerman, MEP, it was proposed
that a comparative analysis of the situation of refugees in the
EU Member States be carried out. The European Parliament
also proposes the introduction in the medium term of a
‘European Refugee Fund’ which groups together all of the
budget headings contained in the EU budget into a single
budget heading. The aim is to improve the EU’s action and
resource distribution in respect of refugees (1).

In the revised Guidelines for a European migration
1.3.8.
and asylum strategy (in the earliest version dated 23 June
1999) during the German Council presidency, attention was
drawn to the importance of integrating third-country nationals,
including recognised refugees.
‘Integration of third-country
nationals lawfully resident in the Member States on a long-term
basis, including those with refugee status, is a matter of utmost
importance. (...) The European Council is aware of Europe’s
position as a continent marked by migratory movements (...).
It points out that the integration of third-country nationals
living in Europe on a long term basis will be a constant task
for the European Union and its Member States’ (2). The
document also emphasises the need for a global, integrated
strategy for European migration and asylum.

1.4. Assessing the integration background to the proposed action

programme

it

The proposed action programme establishes an
1.4.1.
the common European asylum and
important pillar of
migration policy. There is no doubt that
is not only
non-governmental organisations involved in assisting refugees
who welcome the treatment of refugees as a particularly
vulnerable population group with specific integration needs.
Neither is there any doubt that in the European Union there is
a political resolve to promote the integration of refugees. This
is all the more true since migratory and refugee movements are
certainly not passing phenomena, but increasingly constitute a
long-term challenge for Member States and others. Against
such a backdrop,
to
introduce a European Refugee Fund under which all refugee-
related budget headings are brought together merits particular
attention.

the European Parliament’s proposal

1.4.2.
It is the intention of the Commission proposal, inter
alia, to promote the receptiveness of the European public. In
view of this the reference to the ‘rise of the refugee phenom-
enon’ (p. 4) is out of place.

1.4.3.
The challenges arising now and in the future from
the EU and its Member States granting asylum to refugees,
possibly to an increasing extent, provide justification for the
continuation of Community support.

2. Proposals for amending and supplementing the pro-

posal for a Council decision

2.1. Principles of partnership and participation

2.1.1.
As explained in the foreword, the Commission’s
proposal is to directly involve refugees in the implementation
of the action programme. In our view, refugee organisations
and self-help groups active in project development and
implementation should participate in the action programme.

2.1.2.
Proposal: Point 3.2 should be expanded by adding
on the following sentence. In their capacity as players in
project development, implementation and evaluation, refugee
self-help groups and other migrant organisations working for
the integration of refugees should be actively included. In this
respect, the cooperation of all organisations representing civil
society is to be encouraged.

2.2. Second recital

2.2.1.
As explained in the foreword, there has been an
increase in the number of refugees in Europe as a whole, but
not in all Member States, hence our proposal to qualify this
statement.

(1) See News Report of 18.3.99, European Parliament.
(2) Note from presidency to the Strategic Committee on Immigration,
Frontiers and Asylum, doc. No 8815/99 ASIM 23, Brussels,
23.6.1999.

Proposal: ‘ (...) whereas the number of refugees in
2.2.2.
some Member States has substantially increased in recent
years;’.

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2.3. Article 1

2.3.1.
The delay in the adoption of the action programme
and the introduction of the preparatory measures for the
period from 1 July 1999 to 1 July 2000 mean a change in the
timeframe for the action programme: from 1 July 2000 to
31 December 2001.

The question of

2.3.2.
the participation in society of
refugees in the Member States is a key matter of concern for
many of those involved in the field of refugee integration. That
should be more strongly emphasised at this point in the text:
‘The purpose of the programme is to contribute to the effective
integration into and the enhanced participation in society of
refugees in the Member States, inter alia through participation
in networks (...)’.

2.4. Articles 3 and 4 and point 4 of the explanatory memorandum

2.4.1.
All of the actions proposed under point 4 are at
European level. Applicants are expected to cooperate at
European level (Actions II and III) or at national level carry
out a large multidimensional project with a clear European
added-value (Action I). This is basically to be supported.
However, possible disadvantages for smaller organisations
assisting refugees, particularly self-help organisations and their
national associations, should be countered — as just explained
above — by including them in the planning, development and
implementation of multidimensional projects and projects
with Europe-wide features.

2.5.3.
Proposal: ‘2. The Commission shall cooperate with
institutions and organisations active in the field of integration
of
refugees, particularly non-governmental organisations.
Enhanced participation of refugee self-help organisations shall
be sought’.

2.6. Article 7

the membership of

In line with Article 6,

2.6.1.
the
committee proposed here should comprise one representative
of NGOs and one ESC member representing the social partners.
The ESC is aware that the decision on the Committee procedure
currently rules out the enlargement of the proposed committee
to include ESC members.

Proposal: Add the following to the first indent: ‘The
2.6.2.
membership of the Committee shall be such as to ensure the
involvement of representatives of NGOs and/or the social
partners’.

2.7. Article 8

2.7.1.
For the sake of clarity, it should be added here that
the support is for measures promoting the integration of
refugees.

2.7.2.
Proposal: a) should be expanded as follows: general
guidelines for the support to be provided by the Community
for measures promoting the integration of refugees.

2.4.2.
Proposal: Action I: In this respect, equal opportunities
must be promoted for applications from smaller organisations
through involvement in networks.

3. Conclusion

2.5. Article 6

2.5.1.
As the integration of refugees is in many Member
States achieved via programmes and initiatives of non-
governmental organisations, these should where possible be
explicitly mentioned here.

2.5.2.
In accordance with the Commission’s principles of
partnership and participation, refugee self-help organisations
should also be mentioned here as relevant cooperation part-
ners.

3.1.
The Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a
Community action programme to promote the integration of
refugees broadly earns our support. It is particularly important
to work towards a speedy adoption of the decision so that
there are no breaks in assistance and to ensure that the relevant
projects are pursued. This is also the only way of guaranteeing
continued use of the structures already in place and the
knowledge acquired. Since the issues of migration and inte-
gration will remain of considerable importance for the EU and
its Member States in the future, the ESC will continue to follow
this programme closely and will work for adequate funding
for European assistance instruments.

Brussels, 20 October 1999.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Beatrice RANGONI MACHIAVELLI