Union Support for Asylum, Migration and Integration Management 2028 - 2034
Opinion factsheet
On this page
- Justice and Home Affairs
- Integration of migrants
- Migration policy
- Economy and Finance
- Multiannual financial framework
Opinion number:
CDR-3373-2025
Status:
Adopted
Impact
The Commission response broadly validates CIVEX-VIII/010's political priorities, particularly the partnership principle, multilevel governance and the key role of local and regional authorities in integration, while maintaining a Member State-led implementation model and rejecting changes that would blur the legal and structural distinction between AMI support and the wider NRP framework.
More specifically:
The Commission offers in its position strong endorsement of local and regional involvement. The Commission explicitly agrees with the Opinion on the importance of multilevel governance and the partnership principle but Member States retain primary responsibility for implementing EU asylum, migration and integration support and for determining how they work with regional/local authorities and other stakeholders (recommendations 7-12).
The Commission rejects restructuring AMI into the broader NRP Regulation (recommendation 2-4) explaining that a separate AMI Regulation remains legally necessary, principally because asylum and migration fall under Title V TFEU and are subject to specific participation and voting arrangements ("variable geometry").
The Commission strongly defends the performance-based funding model. (recommendation 5). It argues that combining investments with reforms and linking disbursement to milestones and targets should improve impact, alignment with EU priorities, value for money and disbursement.
The Commission acknowledges institutional capacity of LRAs (recommendation 6) on the one hand, pointing out, on the other, that the NRP Regulation contains provisions aimed at strengthening horizontally and not specifically to migration and asylum policy, the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders at national, regional and local levels.
The Commission offers some recognition of territorial differences, but within a common financing framework (recommendation 8) and notes that for Home Affairs interventions, an average contribution rate may be applied nationally where the regional share of implementation cannot be determined. So, the Commission recognises territorial differences, but within a funding architecture that remains predominantly organised through national plans.
The Commission has a very positive response on integration and cooperation with the CoR (recommendation 10), and explicitly commits, within its partnership with the CoR, to continue exchanging good practices and developing strategies to address common challenges, particularly integration.
The Commission also says the financing decision for the future EU Facility will continue to reflect the needs of LRAs, while leaving Member States flexibility to respond to their challenges and territorial realities.
The Commission offers clear support for the Opinion’s labour-market and talent-integration agenda (recommendations 13–18), as it recognises that LRAs have an essential role in programming and implementing interventions concerning labour-market integration and skills/talent.
The Commission acknowledges the point on migration-related disinformation and explicitly takes note of recommendation 14 concerning foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and migration-related disinformation and says such activities are already supported under the 2021–2027 MFF. This is notable because it validates the Opinion's attempt to link migration policy with the broader challenge of democratic resilience and disinformation.
10. The Commission supports that external migration action sits mainly outside AMI. While agreeing with recommendations 17–18 on migration diplomacy and international cooperation, the Commission makes clear that financing for migration's external dimension should come primarily through Global Europe. AMI funding for external action will be comparatively limited and complementary, with the Commission committing to coherence and coordination between the two instruments.
11. Finally, the Commission supports stronger synergies between AMI and other EU policies. For recommendations 19–21, the Commission argues that having a single NRP Plan per Member State under common horizontal rules should facilitate simpler and more coherent funding across policy areas. It specifically identifies integration as an area where AMI funding can operate synergistically with Cohesion Policy.
More specifically:
The Commission offers in its position strong endorsement of local and regional involvement. The Commission explicitly agrees with the Opinion on the importance of multilevel governance and the partnership principle but Member States retain primary responsibility for implementing EU asylum, migration and integration support and for determining how they work with regional/local authorities and other stakeholders (recommendations 7-12).
The Commission rejects restructuring AMI into the broader NRP Regulation (recommendation 2-4) explaining that a separate AMI Regulation remains legally necessary, principally because asylum and migration fall under Title V TFEU and are subject to specific participation and voting arrangements ("variable geometry").
The Commission strongly defends the performance-based funding model. (recommendation 5). It argues that combining investments with reforms and linking disbursement to milestones and targets should improve impact, alignment with EU priorities, value for money and disbursement.
The Commission acknowledges institutional capacity of LRAs (recommendation 6) on the one hand, pointing out, on the other, that the NRP Regulation contains provisions aimed at strengthening horizontally and not specifically to migration and asylum policy, the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders at national, regional and local levels.
The Commission offers some recognition of territorial differences, but within a common financing framework (recommendation 8) and notes that for Home Affairs interventions, an average contribution rate may be applied nationally where the regional share of implementation cannot be determined. So, the Commission recognises territorial differences, but within a funding architecture that remains predominantly organised through national plans.
The Commission has a very positive response on integration and cooperation with the CoR (recommendation 10), and explicitly commits, within its partnership with the CoR, to continue exchanging good practices and developing strategies to address common challenges, particularly integration.
The Commission also says the financing decision for the future EU Facility will continue to reflect the needs of LRAs, while leaving Member States flexibility to respond to their challenges and territorial realities.
The Commission offers clear support for the Opinion’s labour-market and talent-integration agenda (recommendations 13–18), as it recognises that LRAs have an essential role in programming and implementing interventions concerning labour-market integration and skills/talent.
The Commission acknowledges the point on migration-related disinformation and explicitly takes note of recommendation 14 concerning foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) and migration-related disinformation and says such activities are already supported under the 2021–2027 MFF. This is notable because it validates the Opinion's attempt to link migration policy with the broader challenge of democratic resilience and disinformation.
10. The Commission supports that external migration action sits mainly outside AMI. While agreeing with recommendations 17–18 on migration diplomacy and international cooperation, the Commission makes clear that financing for migration's external dimension should come primarily through Global Europe. AMI funding for external action will be comparatively limited and complementary, with the Commission committing to coherence and coordination between the two instruments.
11. Finally, the Commission supports stronger synergies between AMI and other EU policies. For recommendations 19–21, the Commission argues that having a single NRP Plan per Member State under common horizontal rules should facilitate simpler and more coherent funding across policy areas. It specifically identifies integration as an area where AMI funding can operate synergistically with Cohesion Policy.
Essential points
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)
- calls for the Union’s support for asylum, migration and integration to be firmly aligned with the objectives of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the European Asylum and Migration Management Strategy, ensuring that adequate resources are allocated to the relevant authorities, including local and regional authorities (LRA) involved in reception, asylum and return procedures, as well as the integration of migrants and refugees;
- the allocation of Union support should reflect the Union’s priorities and be guided by a comprehensive evidence and risk-based assessment of migratory pressures, exposure to structural vulnerabilities, ensuring an integrated, coherent and coordinated approach to the management of migration flows and the Union’s response to hybrid threats, such as instrumentalisation of migration;
- recommends the introduction of dedicated provisions in the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPP) for asylum, migration and integration;
- reiterates the importance of reinforcing the principles of multilevel governance, partnership and a place-based approach as the core elements of the governance model;
- calls for ensuring that clear legal backstops or guarantees are in place to secure the involvement of LRA in the design, management, implementation and monitoring of the NRPP;
- calls for the systematic engagement of the CoR when setting the priorities on integration, through the established cooperation with the European Commission;
- supports greater flexibility within the NRPP to enable a swift response to emerging challenges, while underlining the need for predictable and long-term funding, underpinned by clear spending priorities for asylum, migration and integration, adequate and proportionate co-financing conditions, and arrangements that ensure access to funding for local and regional authorities;
- endorses the involvement of LRA in the EU Facility, while also encouraging the development of clear and transparent rules for the LRA's participation in decision-making over the Flexibility envelope of the NRPP framework; underlines that for successful participation in the NRPP, LRA need to be supported by targeted capacity-building, training and technical assistance.