ECA: Support for migrants still not visible. The crux of the public administration

Brussels – Much activism, lots of money, and few results: Politically, the European Union has taken steps to regulate the flow of asylum seekers and provide for the care of migrant people. However, in practice, the results of these efforts are not visible due to a public administration that is still too burdened with bureaucracy and unable to rise to the challenge. In a special report on the topic, the ECA calls for patience and, implicitly, more effort.

In a nutshell, the snapshot of the Luxembourg auditors is a mix of highs and lows. On the one hand, the measures financed under the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) – some 1 billion euros for the 2014-2020 budget and 1.9 billion for the 2021-2027 budget – have been “useful in providing support for integration.” On the other, the auditors note shortcomings, starting with the “administrative complexity of supported programs that risk limiting their added value” and immigrant programs that “are not always tailored to needs.”

Added to this are the inadequate, insufficient, and unclear information from national governments on their integration achievements. The crux of the matter is that “in the absence of legal obligations, Member States do not uniformly monitor the actions taken to help migrants overcome obstacles on the path to integration,” said Viorel Ștefan, the Court member in charge of the report. As a result, “it is difficult to assess the contribution made by the Fund to the integration of migrants,” he said.

Not surprisingly, the recommendation to the European Commission, in collaboration with the member states, concerns more data reliability, improved monitoring, and reporting on support provided under the AMIF fund. The ECA is also asking the Commission to refine the reporting framework by the end of 2026 so as to better assess the impact of the AMIF fund on integration pathways.