Context
The Pact on Migration and Asylum (hereunder: “The Pact”) sets out a comprehensive approach to make migration management in Europe more efficient and sustainable. The Pact relies on a strong legal framework for orderly management of migration in the EU. Alongside the new legal framework, it reinforces the external dimension of migration management, to pursue beneficial partnerships with international partners and third countries.
Its legal framework includes structural measures focused on effective implementation, including operational and monitoring measures as well as a strengthened governance mechanism. Moreover, the Pact endows Member States with a substantially reinforced EU funds envelope.
Following the adoption of the Pact and entry into force, there will be a two-year transition period until the entry into application. During this transition period, the Commission will, as foreseen in the legislation, issue a common implementation plan for the Union that assesses gaps and operational steps to be taken (ie. at the latest three months after the entry into force of the legal acts).
Based on the common implementation plan, each Member State will have to develop its own national implementation plan by around December 2024 (six months after the entry into force of the legal acts), outlining the actions needed to ensure all is in place by mid-2026, identifying their own path to be “Pact-ready”.
The Technical Support Instrument could help Member States with the implementation of their national plans, including implementing necessary reforms under the Pact and facilitating the use of relevant EU funds.
Objectives
This Flagship aims to provide tailor made expertise to help Member States implement specific reforms stemming from the Pact on Migration and Asylum, while using EU tools such as the Skills Profile Tool for Third Country Nationals and others.
Member States can apply for technical support individually, or together as part of a multi-country request to address common reform needs, while exchanging good practices.
The TSI Flagship could help Member States carry out reforms under the Pact, such as:
- Asylum and Migration Management: help Member States by providing technical recommendations on legal, regulatory, organisational and operational aspects of implementation at national level, and/or update/reform procedures for transfers between Member States under the current voluntary solidarity mechanism respectively the future permanent, mandatory solidarity mechanism under the Pact.
- Asylum Procedure: help Member States reform their legal, regulatory, organisational, or operational framework to comply with the new legal obligations including the requirement to put in place an adequate capacity for conducting mandatory border procedures; and to make asylum, border and return procedures quicker and more effective.
- Screening: help Member States to explore how to reform their legal, regulatory, organisational, or operational framework to comply with the legal obligations stemming from the Screening Regulation including i.a. staff and facilities, to carry out the health, vulnerability, identity and security checks, and possibly the Independent Monitoring Mechanism. Actions under this flagship initiatives are to be implemented in close cooperation with Frontex.
- Resettlement framework: help Member States update their legal, regulatory, organisational, and/or operational framework to facilitate resettlement processes and prepare the necessary regulatory and operational measures to welcome and integrate resettled refugees at national, regional and/or local level.
- External dimension: help Member States step up their participation in EU collaboration initiatives with Countries of Origin and Transit like the Talent Pool, mobility partnerships, and/or readmission agreements; design and implement labour migration reforms; facilitate procedures for the recognition of qualifications and validation of skills acquired outside the EU.
- Integration and inclusion: support effective integration policies at national, regional and local levels, in line with the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027.
- Absorption of EU funds: support Member States manage EU migration funds and accelerate the absorption of EU financial envelope under the Pact.
Indicative support measures
This flagship would propose some or all of the following measures as possibilities for Member States to select from:
- Situational analysis: assessment of policies, legal and institutional frameworks, identifying existing needs and gaps.
- Mapping of good practices: mapping and exchange of EU good practices and study visits.
- Strategy and action planning: development and implementation of newly developed strategies and Actions plans in consultation with key stakeholders.
- Legal and regulatory recommendations: reviewing and/or developing legislative and regulatory frameworks based on the situational analyses and good practices mapping.
- Operational capacity and needs: assessment/identification of operational needs necessary for the implementation of various elements of the Pact.
- Policy coordination: establishment of structured coordination and information sharing mechanisms across national authorities and other stakeholders.
- Monitoring and evaluation: strengthening monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to support evidence-based policy making.
- Digitalisation of procedures and access to services: technical advice for preparing the technical specifications for purchasing IT services to design (i.e. coding) new IT architecture, or facilitating its in-house development by national authorities.
- Institutional and capacity building: strengthening the administrative capacity of authorities to design and put in place new institutional structures, policies, processes and training staff – including for the absorption and use of EU funds (for procurement, solidarity contribution etc).
- Communication: development of communication strategies and actions plans; conference and workshops to present ongoing or planned reforms.
The support provided under the new flagship should complement:
- other EU funding; and
- operational support provided through EU Agencies.
