EU support to partner countries on migration and forced displacement

Migration and forced displacement are global phenomena. To better manage migration and mobility along the various migratory routes, address the challenges, and harness the opportunities stemming from international migration, as well as to promote safe and legal alternatives to irregular migration, the EU works jointly with third countries and international partners at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. This engagement is especially important in the neighbourhood of the EU and in the other areas covered by the Directorate General for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf.

Following a comprehensive approach to migration and asylum, as per the guidelines of the European Council, the external dimension of EU migration policies focuses on several key areas. These include the protection of vulnerable migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, legal migration and labour mobility, addressing the root causes of irregular migration, combating smuggling of migrants and trafficking in human beings, strengthening border management capacities of partner countries, in addition to the returns of irregularly staying migrants from the EU to their countries of origin, as well as the support to voluntary returns and sustainable reintegration of returnees in their countries of origin.

The EU adopts a whole-of-route approach in its cooperation with countries of origin and transit along the main migratory routes. This cooperation, carried out in synergy with dedicated EU Agencies like the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, the EU Asylum Agency (EUAA) and Europol, helps partner countries manage migratory flows more effectively.

Migration policies should not be dealt with in isolation. The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum foresees embedding migration within comprehensive, balanced, tailor-made and mutually beneficial partnerships with countries of origin and transit, which can deliver mutual benefits in areas like the economy, development, education and skills, stability and security and people-to-people contacts.

Following this approach, over the course of the years, the EU has been strengthening its partnership with key countries of origin and transit along the different migratory routes, in full coordination with EU Member States as Team Europe, notably through the adoption of several regional EU action Plans.

Southern Neighbourhood

North Africa

“Migration and mobility” is one of the key EU policy priorities in the Southern Neighbourhood, as stated in the New Agenda for the Mediterranean (2021).

Support to migration management in the North of Africa region has been channeled through two main financing instruments:

The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation (NDICI) – Global Europe Instrument (2021-2027) builds on successful actions carried out under the EUTF and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) for the period 2014-2020.

In this framework, the MULTI-ANNUAL INDICATIVE PROGRAMME FOR A MULTI-COUNTRY MIGRATION PROGRAMME FOR THE SOUTHERN NEIGHBOURHOOD (2021-2027) - European Commission (europa.eu) (henceforth ‘MIP Migration 2021-2027’) sets out EU’s priorities for the programming of migration-related actions in the Southern Neighbourhood. Adopted in November 2022, it focuses on four priority areas:

1. Providing assistance and protection to forcibly displaced persons, including asylum seekers, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and other persons in need, including migrants in vulnerable situations, as well as host communities notably in North Africa through a multi-sectoral and sustainable approach. Examples of protection assistance interventions include, for instance, support to access to basic services, such as health and education, as well as legal and psychosocial support to migrants, refugees and other people in need of protection.

2. Strengthening asylum and migration governance and management. Support in this area aims at reinforcing the institutional capacities of partner countries to put in place better migration and asylum policies, legislation, procedures and institutions, in line with international protection standards and human rights law. This includes, for example, capacity building and targeted training for border authorities to strengthen their operational capacity to conduct border surveillance and search and rescue operations in respect of human rights, as well as to enhance the detection of irregular migrants and of victims of trafficking, supporting the effective prosecution of organised criminal groups engaged in migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

3. Fostering return, readmission and sustainable reintegration. Under this priority, the EU supports migrants who decide to voluntarily return to their countries of origin, by providing direct assistance before departure, and by supporting their socioeconomic integration upon their return to countries of origin, including through the involvement of relevant local authorities.

4. Supporting a comprehensive approach to legal migration and mobility. The EU supports partner countries through programmes that aim at the upskilling and re-skilling of the local labour force and at spurring legal mobility towards the EU - to the benefit of partner countries’ and EU’s Member States labour markets, in full accordance with EU’s Member States and third countries’ interests and priorities.

Between 2021 and 2024, an overall budget of €906 million has been committed for migration-related actions in the North of Africa region under NDICI. Across the duration of the multiannual programming period (2021-2027), budget allocations will be divided along the 4 different priorities of the MIP Migration 2021-2027 (27.6% for priority 1, 49.6% for priority 2, 15.2% for priority 3 and 7% for priority 4). In order to make progress on such priorities the Commission is working closely with partner countries, UN agencies, civil society organisations, international organisations and other implementing partners at programming level.

Furthermore, the EU has concluded comprehensive, mutually beneficial partnerships with Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan in areas such as economic cooperation and trade, energy, digital, people-to-people contacts and migration. In addition, Talent Partnerships with Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt aim at establishing mutually beneficial labour mobility opportunities between these countries and the EU. These programmes analyse market needs, invest in curricular updates, training and skills development in relevant sectors, connect employers and job seekers and often support circular mobility schemes.

To complement the EU-level efforts and offer an important extra-dimension to such strategic and comprehensive partnerships, the EU and Member States have launched two Team Europe Initiatives (TEI) on migration in December 2022, aiming at a comprehensive Team Europe approach to the Atlantic/Western Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean migration routes. Actions taken under the TEIs may focus on the full range of migration-related activities, including support to capacity building and equipment, and support partners in their own work on refugee protection, asylum and return.