COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS The application of the criteria for the distribution of resources among the Member States under the External Borders Fund, the European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals and the European Return Fund
Date: 2011-07-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: allocation of resources, distribution of EU funding, external border of the EU, integration of migrants, repatriation grant

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 20.7.2011 
COM(2011) 448 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

The application of the criteria for the distribution of resources among the Member 
States under the External Borders Fund, the European Fund for the Integration of 
third-country nationals and the European Return Fund 

{SEC(2011) 940 final} 

 
 
 
 
  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

The application of the criteria for the distribution of resources among the Member 
States under the External Borders Fund, the European Fund for the Integration of 
third-country nationals and the European Return Fund 

1. 

BACKGROUND TO THIS REPORT 

1.1. 

The purpose of this report 

For the period 2007-2013 the European Union established the General Programme Solidarity 
and  Management  of  Migration  Flows  with  a  total  allocation  of  EUR  4.020  million.  The 
General Programme consists of four Funds and its aim is to address the issue of a fair share of 
the responsibilities between Member States as concerns the financial burden arising from the 
introduction  of  an  integrated  management  of  the  Union's  external  borders  and  from  the 
implementation of common policies on asylum and immigration1. 

The  Funds  are  different  from  most  other  EU  financial  instruments  in  the  sense  that  they 
establish a mechanism for allocating their resources to Member States on an annual basis. 

For this reason the basic acts establishing the External Borders Fund2, the European Fund on 
the Integration of third-country nationals3 (hereinafter "Integration Fund") and the European 
Return  Fund4  require  the  Commission  to  submit  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament,  the 
Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on 
the  application  of  the  criteria  for  allocating  resources  to  the  Member  States  and  to  review 
whether amendments to these criteria are deemed necessary. 

No  such  obligation  exists  for  the  European  Refugee  Fund,  the  fourth  Fund  of  the  General 
Programme.  Having  been  established  in  2000,  the  basic  act  consolidated  past  experiences, 
including those with the criteria. 

The report presents the approach on the application of the criteria for the distribution of the 
resources while the accompanying staff working document outlines in detail the results for the 
Member  States.  By  presenting  the  data,  the  methodology  used  and  the  results  of  the 
application of the criteria, these documents may help inform the thinking of Member States, 
the  other  Institutions  and  stakeholders  on  the  future  of  EU  funding  in  the  area  of  the 
management of migration flows under the next multi-annual financial framework. 

1 
2 
3 
4 

COM(2005)123 final 
Article 52(3)(a) of Decision No 574/2007/EC (OJ L144, 6.6.2007, p.22) 
Article 48(3)(a) of Council Decision 2007/435/EC (OJ L168, 28.6.2007, p.18) 
Article 50(3)(a) of Decision No 575/2007/EC (OJ L144, 6.6.2007, p.45) 

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1.2. 

The mechanisms for allocating resources under the Funds 

The  Funds  are  mainly  implemented  by  the  Member  States,  in  the  shared  method  of 
implementation.  Through  annual  programmes  from  Member  States,  the  EU  budget  seeks  to 
support  in  Member  States  a  structured  intervention  (capacity  building),  as  well  as  activities 
specific  to  the  national  or  local  circumstances  in  the  policy  area  concerned  pursuant  to  the 
scope set out in the basic acts. All actions are co-financed within a common framework (EU 
strategic guidelines). 

For  each  Fund  the  annual  distribution  of  the  available  EU  financial  resources  among  the 
Member  States  is  based  on  specific  and  objective  criteria  which  reflect  the  situation  of  the 
Member State with regard to the obligations undertaken on behalf of or for the overall benefit 
of the Union in the policy area concerned: e.g. the size of the external borders to be protected 
and  the  number  of  persons  crossing  them;  the  number  of  legally  staying  third-country 
nationals to be integrated into society; the number of return decisions to be implemented. The 
definition  of  the  criteria  is  the  most  concrete  expression  of  the  principle  of  solidarity 
underlying the Funds in the sense that those Member States most affected by the management 
of migration flows are meant to benefit the most from EU funding. 

Each year the Commission draws upon both EU statistics from EUROSTAT and ad hoc data 
supplied by Member States to do the calculations. Once the calculations are communicated to 
the Member States in the year N-15, the EU contribution to the annual programme is known to 
the Member States and they can start in earnest with the selection of actions to be co-financed 
for the programmes concerned. These are indicative amounts ("provisional allocations") that 
will be confirmed or modified once the Budgetary Authority has adopted the EU budget in the 
year N-1. 

1.3. 

The structure and contents of this report 

This report focuses on the calculations for the financial years 2007 – 2011. The calculations 
are final. 

As  foreseen  during  the  discussions  leading  to  the  adoption  of  the  basic  acts,  the  data 
collection  process  was  reinforced  as  a  result  of  the  entry  into  force  of  Regulation  No 
862/20076 (henceforth the Migration Statistics Regulation). The application of the Migration 
Statistics Regulation to the data used for the distribution of the resources under the Funds has 
served  to  improve  the  reliability  and  comparability  of  the  data.  The  experiences  with  the 
application of the criteria will be examined for each Fund. 

Further information on the methodology, the data collection and an overview and comparative 
analysis of the results of the application of the data under the Funds is presented in the staff 
working document. 

5 

6 

The allocations are indicative as the total Fund's appropriations are subject to the approval of the final 
budget of the European Union by its budgetary authority by the end of the year. Furthermore, they are 
also provisional as subject to formal approval by the Commission. 
Regulation  No  862/2007  of  the  EP  and  of  the  Council  on  Community  statistics  on  migration  and 
international  protection  and  repealing  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  311/76  on  the  compilation  of 
statistics on foreign workers (OJ L.199, 31.7.2007, p.23).  

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2. 

2.1. 

THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE CALCULATIONS 

Key  principles  on  data  supply  and  cooperation  between  Member  States  and 
Commission  

From  the  outset,  for  all  the  Funds,  the  following  principles  have  been  leading  in  the  co-
operation between Member States and the Commission, including EUROSTAT, to ensure the 
optimal application of the provisions on the distribution keys of the basic acts: 

(1) 

It is first and foremost the responsibility of the Member States to provide accurate and 
reliable data relevant for the allocations of resources to Member States. According to 
the  basic  acts,  the  reference  figures  shall  be  "the  latest  statistics  produced  by  the 
Commission  (EUROSTAT)  on  the  basis  of  the  data  provided  by  Member  States  in 
accordance  with  Community  law".  Moreover,  Member  States  have  "to  provide 
provisional data as soon as possible" for the Funds where data has not been supplied to 
the  Commission  (EUROSTAT)  or  where  the  statistics  are  not  produced  by  the 
Commission (EUROSTAT) at all, as well as the information necessary to enable the 
Commission to check those data7. 

(2) 

In  case  of  non-compliance,  the  ultimate  consequence  of  the  failure  to  deliver  a 
particular category of data in accordance with the basic act concerned will be that the 
required field in the table used for the distribution of the resources will remain empty, 
except where it would benefit a Member State. 

For EU statistics key checks on statistical quality are in place. EUROSTAT is implementing a 
quality assurance programme and as part of its wider efforts to ensure that Member States are 
complying with the requirements of EU statistical law, it works with national data suppliers to 
assess and ensure the correct application of the Migration Statistics Regulation. 

2.2. 

A constant improvement in work methods and data quality 

The Commission and the Member States have worked together from the outset to ensure the 
availability and comparability of data. A general framework on co-operation was set up and 
existing  data  collections  and  sources  were  examined  jointly.  In  the  summer  of  2007,  the 
results for the 2007 and 2008 fianncial years were communicated to the Member States. These 
first experiences were evaluated and some improvements were made. It was decided to work 
as much as possible on the basis of pre-filled templates from EUROSTAT and to formalise 
working  relationships  (network  of  statistical  contact  points).  The  work  methods  have  thus 
been stabilised and Member States are fully familiar with them. 

From  the  2010  financial  year,  the  first  data  sets  (2008  reference  year)  collected  under  the 
terms of the Migration Statistics Regulation were used. 

7 

Article  12  of  the  Integration  Fund,  Article  13  of  the  European  Refugee  Fund  and  Article  14  of  the 
External Borders Fund and Return Fund  

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3. 

THE SPECIFIC FRAMEWORK FOR CALCULATION UNDER EACH FUND 

3.1. 

The External Borders Fund 

3.1.1.  The criteria in the basic act 

Articles 14 and 15 of Decision 574/2007/EC (hereinafter "EBF basic act") define the criteria 
for the distribution of the annual resources of the Fund among the Member States. To express 
solidarity  with  the  Member  States  who  bear,  for  the  benefit  of  the  EU,  a  lasting  and  heavy 
financial burden, the provisions lay down objective criteria broken down according to the type 
of border, taking into account the flow and the levels of threat at the external borders of the 
Member States. 

Article  14  provides  that  the  total  amount  available  for  the  Fund  has  to  be  broken  down 
between the Member States as follows: 

(1) 

(2) 

30% for external land borders 

35% for external maritime borders 

(3) 

20% for airports 

(4) 

15% for consular offices. 

Ad 1+2. As regards land and maritime borders, 70% is allocated with respect to the length of 
the external border, where appropriate, extended thanks to weighting factors. The remaining 
30% is allocated on the basis of the work-load in managing the border (defined by the average 
figures  over  the  previous  two  years  of  the  number  of  persons  crossing  the  borders  at 
authorised  border  crossing  points,  the  number  of  third  country  nationals  refused  at  the 
external  border  and  the  number  of  persons  apprehended  after  having  crossed  the  external 
border illegally). 

The  length  of  the  maritime  borders  is  defined  as  the  outer  limit  of  the  territorial  sea  of  the 
Member States as defined according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; 
however,  the  outer  limit  can  be  extended  in  case  of  long  range  operations  conducted  on  a 
regular basis in order to prevent irregular migration/illegal entry at high threat areas. 

Ad 3. As regards airports, the allocation is calculated according to the work-load to manage 
the air borders (defined by the average figures over the previous two years of the number of 
persons  crossing  the  borders  at  authorised  border  crossing  points  and  the  number  of  third 
country nationals refused at the external border). 

Ad  4.  For  consular  offices  the  allocation  is  calculated  according  to  the  number  of  consular 
offices and the number of visa applications (work-load). 

Article 15 sets out the framework for the calculation of the weighting factors for external land 
and maritime borders. The Frontex Agency has been entrusted with the task of identifying the 
levels  of  threat  at  each  external  border  section  (high,  medium,  normal  risk  for  land  borders 
and  high,  medium,  normal,  minimum  risk  for  maritime  borders).  The  reports  are  based  on 
data  sent  by  Member  States  border  control  authorities  to  the  Frontex  Agency  within  the 

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framework of the Frontex Risk Analysis Network (FRAN). The data categories mentioned in 
the EBF basic act are the primary sources. 

3.1.2.  The data collection 

The calculation of the distribution of the resources under the Fund is complex since it requires 
the annual collection of many different categories of data derived from different sources. Due 
to  the  complexity  of  the  different  data  to  collect,  the  Commission  issued  detailed  specific 
guidelines  to  Member  States.  New guidelines were issued regularly, taking into account the 
development of the legal and operational framework as well as the information obtained over 
the  previous  years.  Besides  asking  for  data  strictly  necessary  for  the  calculation  of  the 
allocation,  the  Commission  requested  supplementary  data  with  the  aim  of  validating  the 
former. 

The EBF basic act acknowledges that only for certain work load data the reference figures can 
be  EU  statistics  and,  in  this  sense,  the  situation  under  the  External  Borders  Fund  differs 
fundamentally from the other Funds for which the bulk, if not all of the data, are compiled as 
EU statistics.  

The data was collected as follows: 

–  as regards the length of the external borders and the number of airports, data were provided 
directly by Member States and validated by the Commission, by cross-checking different 
sources (i.e. official Websites of Ministries of Member States, Schengen evaluation reports 
etc); 

–  as far as visa applications are concerned, the data on Schengen visas (i.e. short-stay visas, 
transit visas, airport transit visas) were obtained from the Council data collection, whereas 
the  number  of  consular  offices  was  obtained  from  Member  States  and  validated  through 
the information available via the Council; 

–  the data on refusals and apprehensions were based on the data collection on enforcement 

actions against illegal immigration; and 

–  the  data  on  the  number  of  passengers  crossing  at  the  external  borders  were  provided 

directly by the Member States. 

For  some  Member  States,  the  main  data  suppliers  under  the  Fund,  the  interpretation  and 
measurement  proved  difficult  at  times.  It  was  sometimes  considered  difficult  to  define  the 
cases where there is actually a "crossing of the maritime external border" in the sense of the 
Fund  and  what  is  meant  by  the  "number  of  persons  apprehended  after  having  crossed  the 
border  illegally".  In  other  cases,  even  when  the  factor  was  fully  understood,  some  Member 
States had difficulties in providing accurate figures, because data were either not collected as 
such or not collected according to the criteria in the EBF basic act, as a result of which only 
estimates  could  be  provided.  Furthermore,  difficulties  were  encountered  in  interpreting  the 
definition of long range operations and in the definition of the extended maritime border. 

3.1.3.  Overall assessment of the application of the criteria 

In conclusion, despite some difficulties in applying all the factors defined for the distribution 
of  the  resources,  it  has  proved  possible  to  collect  the  necessary  data  to  apply  the  criteria  in 
accordance with the basic EBF act and to deliver the calculation of the provisional allocations 

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to Member States in time for them to be able to use them for the preparation of their annual 
programmes. 

The  results  of  the  application  of  the  criteria  are  outlined  in  the  SEC  document.  The  final 
distribution of the resources shows that the main beneficiaries of the Fund were the Member 
States with the highest responsibility in implementing the common policy for the management 
of external borders: 

–  Spain, Greece and Italy receive 48% of the Fund's allocation for the period 2007-2011. 

–  Furthermore,  if  France,  Malta,  and  Cyprus  are  added  to  the  three  main  beneficiaries,  the 
distribution  of  the  Fund  shows  that  60%  of  the  financial  assistance  is  concentrated  on 
Member States bordering on the Mediterranean sea and the Canary islands area. 

–  At  the  same  time,  Member  States  having  a  land  border  in  the  East  (Poland,  Hungary, 
Finland,  Slovenia,  Romania,  Lithuania,  Estonia,  Bulgaria,  Latvia,  and  Slovakia)  account 
for 25% of the total allocation. 

–  The  results  confirm  the  purpose  of  the  Fund  as  an  instrument  of  financial  solidarity  on 

integrated border management in the EU. 

3.2. 

The European Fund for the Integration of third-country nationals 

3.2.1.  The criteria in the basic act 

Article 12 of the basic act defines the criteria for the distribution of the annual resources of the 
Fund among the Member States (hereinafter the "IF basic act")8.  

According to Article 12(1), each Member State shall receive a fixed amount of EUR 500.000 
from the Fund's annual allocation. 

Article  12(2)  establishes  the  criteria  for  the  distribution  of  the  remaining  available  annual 
resources between the Member States: 

(a) 

(b) 

40% in proportion to the average of the total number of legally residing third-
country nationals in Member States over the previous three years (IF1 "stock of 
legally residing third-country nationals"); and 

60% in proportion to the number of third-country nationals who have obtained 
an  authorisation  issued  by  a  Member  State  to  reside  on  its  territory  over  the 
previous three years (IF2 "flows of legally residing third-country nationals").  

For  the  stock  data,  figures  reflecting  data  for  four  reference  dates  are  taken  into  account  in 
order to calculate the average population over three years.  

According to Article 12(3) of the IF basic act, for the purposes of the calculation referred to in 
Article 12(2)(b), the following categories of persons should be excluded:  

•  seasonal workers, as defined under national law; 

8 

Council Decision 2007/435/EC (OJ L 168, 28.6.2007, p.18) 

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•  third-country  nationals  admitted 

the  purposes  of  studies,  pupil  exchange, 
unremunerated  training  or  voluntary  service  in  accordance  with  Council  Directive 
2004/114/EC; 

for 

•  third-country  nationals  admitted  for  purposes  of  scientific  research  in  accordance  with 

Council Directive2005/71/EC; 

•  third-country  nationals  who  have  received  a  renewal  of  an  authorisation  issued  by  a 
Member  State  or  a  change  of  status,  including  third-country  nationals  who  acquire  long-
term resident status in accordance with Council Directive 2003/109/EC. 

Lastly,  the  basic  act  provides  that  data  on  asylum  seekers,  refugees  and  beneficiaries  of 
subsidiary protection in accordance with Directive 2004/83/EC and on persons having double 
citizenship, including one of a Member State should also be excluded. 

3.2.2.  Data collection 

The Commission provided detailed guidelines to the Member States on the definitions of the 
data. National sources and definitions in the area of migration data vary considerably and the 
importance to exclude some different data categories poses a challenge when the data source 
is  more  based  on  demographic  considerations  instead  of  the  administrative  status  of  the 
individuals (i.e. whether they are legally staying and on which type of permit). 

For  the  2007  to  2009  financial  years,  the  data  required  by  the  IF  basic  act  were  collected 
under a combination of, on the one hand, the informal, but regular, data collection on stock of 
third-country  nationals  managed  by  EUROSTAT  (for  Article  12(2)(a));  and,  on  the  other 
hand, ad hoc requests to the Member States for obtaining data on third-country nationals who 
have  obtained  an  authorisation  to  reside  in  Member  States  (for  Article  12(2)(b)),  in  the 
context of a pilot data base on residence permits. 

The  adoption  and  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Migration  Statistics  Regulation  have  had  a 
significant  impact.  The  work  methods  were  adapted.  With  a  genuine  residence  permits  data 
collection  pursuant  to  Article  6  of  the  Migration  Statistics  Regulation,  in  principle  all  data 
required under the IF basic act, i.e. both stock and flows, can now be based on EU statistics. 

In  view  of  the  mandatory  deadline  for  provision  of  residence  permits  statistics  under 
Migration  Statistics  Regulation  (i.e.  end  of  June  of  each  year)  and  the  time  needed  for  data 
verification,  it  has  become  practice  to  re-examine  the  data  used  for  provisional  allocations 
communicated and where appropriate, to issue a revision of the provisional allocations so as 
to take into account the latest data validated by EUROSTAT. 

For  some  Member  States  it  proved  difficult  to  exclude  data  on  asylum  seekers  and 
beneficiaries of international protection, given the particularities of national data sources. In 
some  cases,  recourse  had  to  be  taken  to  estimates  on  the  basis  of  a  cross  reference  with 
asylum  data  collections.  For  others  the  exclusion  of  renewals  required  additional  work.  For 
some others, it proved necessary to adjust data in the light of the definition of authorisation to 
reside.  Lastly,  only  very  few  Member  States  provide  residence  permit  data  on  a  voluntary 
basis in advance as requested by EUROSTAT. 

Prior  to  the  application  of  the  Migration  Statistics  Regulation  many  additional  checks  were 
undertaken by the Commission, in close co-operation with the data suppliers. The application 

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of the Migration Statistics Regulation provides adequate assurance of the comparability and 
quality  of  the  data.  Moreover  for  some  specific  cases,  such  as  the  exclusion  of  certain  data 
categories, additional checks continue to be undertaken in order to ensure the plausibility of 
the data provided by the Member States.  

3.2.3.  Overall assessment of the application of the criteria 

In  conclusion,  it  has  proved  possible  to  collect  the  necessary  data  to  apply  the  criteria  in 
accordance  with  the  IF  basic  act  and  to  deliver  the  calculation  of  provisional  allocations  to 
Member  States  in  time  for  them  to  be  able  to  use  them  for  the  preparation  of  their  annual 
programmes,  although,  given  the  time  table  on  the  provision  of  the  data  in  the  Migration 
Statistics Regulation, in some cases a revision cannot be excluded. 

The results of the application of the criteria are outlined in the SEC document. The five main 
beneficiaries  are  Italy,  United  Kingdom,  Spain,  Germany  and  France,  accounting  for  nearly 
70% of the allocations. In light of the size of the immigration to these Member States and the 
challenges  faced  by  the  EU  in  this  area  in  the  period  2007-2010,  the  results  confirm  the 
purpose of the Fund as an instrument of financial solidarity for the development of integration 
policies in the EU. 

3.3. 

The European Return Fund 

3.3.1.  The criteria in the basic act 

Article 14 of the basic act defines the criteria for the annual distribution of resources among 
the Member States (hereinafter the "RF basic act"). 

According to Article 14(1), each Member State shall receive a fixed amount of EUR 300.000 
from  the  Fund's  annual  allocation.  The  amount  shall  be  raised  to  EUR  500.000  for  those 
Member State which acceded to the EU on and after 1 May 2004. 

Article  14(2)  establishes  the  criteria  for  the  distribution  of  the  remaining  available  annual 
resources between the Member States: 

(a) 

(b) 

50% in proportion to the total number of third-country nationals who do not or 
no longer fulfil the conditions for entry and stay in the territory of the Member 
State  and  who  are  subject  to  a  return  decision  under  national  and/or 
Community  law,  i.e.  an  administrative  or  judicial  decision  or  act,  stating  or 
declaring  the  illegality  of  stay  and  imposing  an  obligation  to  return  ("third-
country nationals subject to a return decision");  

50% in proportion to the number of third-country nationals who have actually 
left the territory of the Member States following  an administrative or  judicial 
order  to  leave,  whether  undertaken  voluntarily  or  under  coercion  ("effective 
returns").  

The  RF  basic  act  provides  that  from  these  categories  should  be  excluded  third-country 
nationals  who,  being  present  in  a  transit  zone  of  a  Member  State,  were  refused  entry  and 

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third-country  nationals  who  are  returned  to  another  Member  State,  in  particular  pursuant  to 
the "Dublin Regulation" for asylum seekers9. 

The  RF  basic  act  requires  the  collection  of  three  reference  years  for  the  data  for  both 
categories. 

3.3.2.  The data collection 

Member  States  were  requested  to  provide  data  available  respecting  the  guidelines  from  the 
Commission and in particular the following points: 

(1) 

(2) 

For the third-country nationals subject to return decisions, to count all third-country 
nationals who were subject to a removal order during the year in question (and not 
the  stock  of  third-country  nationals  who  remain  in  the  MS,  subject  to  a  return 
decision,  at  the  end  of  the  year)  and  to  count  only  one  order  per  person,  thus 
identifying  the work load for the Member State in terms of the individual caseload 
resulting from negative asylum and immigration decisions throughout the year; 

For  the  effective  returns,  to  count  all  third-country  nationals  who  are  actually 
removed to a third country following an order to leave, including assisted voluntary 
returns and forced removals, whilst excluding spontaneous voluntary returns. 

For the 2008 and 2009 financial exercises the data required by the RF basic act were collected 
under a combination of, on the one hand, the informal, but regular, data collection on statistics 
on  enforcement  actions  against  illegal  immigration  managed  by  EUROSTAT;  and,  on  the 
other hand, ad hoc requests to the Member States for obtaining data not covered by this data 
collection.  The  data  collection  covered  only  the  data  on  effected  returns,  while  the  ad  hoc 
requests  were  intended  to  compile  the  data  on  third-country  nationals  subject  to  return 
decisions. 

As  of  the  2010  financial  year,  the  working  methods  were  adapted.  The  Migration  Statistics 
Regulation could be applied as it foresees the collection of data as of the reference year 2008. 
Article 7 of the Migration Statistics Regulation covers to a large extent the two categories of 
data required under the RF basic act. 

A difference between the data collected under Article 7 of the Migration Statistics Regulation 
and the data required under the RF basic act has been overcome by the addition of a voluntary 
table included in EUROSTAT's regular data collection.. The Migration Statistics Regulation 
does  not  make  it  compulsory  for  Member  States  to  provide  data  on  the  number  of  third-
country nationals returned to third countries. It just requires the total number of third-country 
nationals who have been returned following an order to leave (although the Dublin Regulation 
cases are excluded). The additional voluntary table in the data collection under the Statistics 
Regulation  covers  data  on  effective  returns  to  third  countries.  Under  the  2011  budgetary 
exercise all Member States submitted voluntarily the additional table. Thus, no additional ad 
hoc request specific to the RF was necessary. 

9 

Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  343/2003 of 18 February  2003  establishing  the  criteria  and  mechanisms 
for determining the Mlember State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of 
the Member States by a third-country national (OJ L50, 25.2.2003, p.1).  

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For  a  few  Member  States  there  have  been  some  difficulties  in  submitting  the  data.  This  is 
often due to the nature of the national data sources. Additional revisions were often necessary 
to ensure the exclusion of asylum seekers and third-country nationals in transit zones. It also 
appeared  that  in  some  Member  States  the  number  of  return  decisions  was  lower  than  the 
number of effective returns. This, in principle illogical situation originated, according to the 
Member  States  concerned,  from  the  fact  that  certain  third-country  nationals  were  returned 
without the previous issuance of a return decision, under the framework of specific bilateral 
agreements  or  arrangements  they  had  with  third  countries.  To  allow  a  proper  assessment  of 
these  data,  Member  States  were  requested  to  provide  to  the  Commission,  in  an  explanatory 
note  to  the  data,  all  the  relevant  information  on  such  bilateral  agreements  or  arrangements, 
including  the  number  of  third-country  nationals  returned  disaggregated  by  citizenship. 
Depending on the case management of the migratory flows, variations have occurred. 

The  application  of  the  Migration  Statistics  Regulation  provides  adequate  assurance  of  the 
comparability and quality  of the  data.  Moreover for some  specific  cases,  such as  the  one in 
which  the  return  decisions  are  higher  than  effective  returns,  additional  checks  were 
undertaken in order to ensure the plausibility of the data provided by the Member States. 

3.3.3.  Overall assessment of the application of the criteria 

In  conclusion,  despite  some  minor  difficulties  in  ensuring  uniform  application  of  the 
definitions imposed by the logic of the RF basic act, it proved possible to collect the necessary 
data to apply the criteria in accordance with the RF basic act and to deliver the calculation of 
the provisional allocations to Member States in time for them to be able to use them for the 
preparation of their annual programmes. 

The results of the application of the criteria are outlined in the SEC document. The three main 
beneficiaries  are  Greece,  United  Kingdom  and  Spain.  Together  with  France,  Italy  and 
Germany, these countries account for nearly 67% of the allocations. In light of the size of the 
migratory  pressure  on  these  countries  and  bearing  in  mind  the  shift  in  flows  of  irregular 
entries  over  the  years  from  the  Spanish  coast  (Canary  Islands)  towards  the  Central 
Mediterranean  route  to  the  Greek  borders  with  Albania  and  Turkey,  the  results  confirm  the 
purpose of the Fund as an instrument of financial solidarity for return management in the EU. 

4. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS 

The basic acts for the four Funds came into force in the summer of 2007, a few weeks before 
the first calculations for the resources to Member States were due. 

Thanks to the preparatory work between the Commission and the Member States on the data 
for the allocations in anticipation to the entry into force, the Commission was in a position to 
submit to the Member States, as required, by July 2007 the information on the allocations for 
2007  and  2008.  Together  with  the  extrapolations  for  the  period  2009-2013,  these  figures 
guided  the  Member  States  in  setting  the  indicative  financial  framework  as  the  basis  of  the 
multiannual strategy for the implementation of the Funds. 

In  the  course  of  the  2007-2011  financial  years,  the  principles  and  work  methods  for  data 
collection,  gradually  established  and  defined  each  year,  have  come  to  bear  fruit;  the  last 
exercise  has  shown  how  they  have  increasingly  simplified  and  facilitated  the  work  on  the 

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calculations. The methodology used has proved effective. Thus, the Commission was able to 
submit the calculations to the Member States in general on time. 

The  Migration  Statistics  Regulation  is  increasingly  the  backbone  of  the  system  for  data 
collection under the Return Fund and the Integration Fund. The system put in place for data 
collection on the External Borders Fund, while different, is also proving adequate. The checks 
put  in  place  in  either  system,  while  not  always  optimal  given  inherent  limitations  in  data 
sources,  validation  tools  and  the  administrative  capacity  for  data  analysis  in  the  EU,  form 
nevertheless  a  solid  basis  on  which  to  continue  making  the  calculations  for  future  financial 
years. In terms of the definitions of the data collection, some differences may remain between 
the  Migration  Statistics  Regulation  and  the  criteria  laid  down  in  the  basic  acts.  In  practice, 
solutions have been found on a bilateral basis and efforts to further improve the co-operation 
and exchange of data between Member States and the Commission, including EUROSTAT, 
will  continue.  EUROSTAT  monitors  the  quality  of  the  data  used  in  the  compilation  of  the 
reference figures – whether these data are supplied under the specific statistical legislation or 
on the basis of voluntary agreements. However, this monitoring and quality control is limited 
to normal statistical practices and reflects the usual distribution  of tasks and responsibilities 
between EUROSTAT and national data suppliers. It should be noted that the compilation of 
European Statistics is a co-operative process that greatly depends on the reliability of the data 
supplied by national authorities.  

Given the particular importance of ensuring the quality of the statistics used for the allocation 
of  the  four  Funds,  a  specific  quality  assurance  programme  has  been  put  in  place  by 
EUROSTAT and there will be on going work to continue quality improvements. 

While the Commission was in general able to deliver the final calculations on time thanks to 
all  these  factors,  it  has  to  be  recognised  that  the  amount  and  complexity  of  the  data  to  be 
collected  and  verified  each  year  imposes  a  recurrent  administrative  burden  on  the  Member 
States  and  the  Commission.  There  may  be  more  cost-effective  ways  of  ensuring  the 
application  of  distribution  keys  which  seek  to  express  the  principle  of  solidarity  underlying 
the Funds. 

The  results  of  the  application  of  the  criteria,  as  laid  down  in  detail  in  the  staff  working 
document  accompanying  this  Communication,  are  generally  perceived  as  satisfactory.  The 
application of the criteria has served the objectives as defined by the European Parliament and 
the Council in the basic acts establishing the Funds of the General Programme Solidarity and 
Management  of  Migration  Flows  since  they  have  converged  the  bulk  of  the  EU  resources 
available  around  those  Member  States  most  affected  by  the  challenges  posed  by  the 
management  of  migration  flows  of  third-country  nationals  into  the  EU.  Under  these 
circumstances,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  come  forward  with  proposals  to  amend  the 
criteria. 

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