THE EU REGULATION ON COMMUNITY STATISTICS ON MIGRATION AND INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION

Ann Singleton, Audrey LenoëlCentre for the Study of Poverty and Social JusticeSchool for Policy StudiesUniversity of BristolUnited Kingdom

andNicolas PerrinGéDAP – Université Catholique de Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium

The Regulation

- Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community statistics on migration and international protection (repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No. 311/76 on the compilation of statistics on foreign workers.

- Offical Journal of the European Union 31.7.2007, L199/23-29

The context

• Political will• Emergence of common EU policies on migration and asylum,

labour market needs• The acknowledged need for EU legislation on statistics• Harmonised and comparable Community statistics on migration

and asylum are essential for the development and monitoring of Community legislation and policies relating to immigration and asylum, and to the free movement of persons.

• Current impetus- Allocation of Community funds to Member States- Framework programme ‘Solidarity and Management of

Migration Flows’

Why did it happen?

The conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council of 28-29 May 2001.

There is a need for a comprehensive and

coherent framework for future action on

improving statistics

Why did it happen?

– Enlargement of the EU – added geographical and political dimension, increased impetus to the demand for accurate, timely and harmonised statistical information.

– Need to monitor the development and implementation of Community legislation and policy. Replace the ‘gentlemen’s agreements’.

How did it happen?

In April 2003 the Commission released aCommunication to the Council and the EuropeanParliament, setting out an Action Plan for thecollection and analysis of Community Statistics inthe field of migration.– It included:– changes to improve the completeness and

degree of harmonisation of these statistics– the aim of proposing legislation

How did it happen?

– The Thessaloniki European Council 19-20 June 2003 concluded that more effective mechanisms were needed for the collection and analysis of information on migration and asylum in the European Union.

– The European Parliament resolution of 6th November 2003 noted that legislation was required. The resolution supported the Commission plans to propose legislation.

Preparing legislation

Preparation of the Commission proposal 2002-2004

Technical consultation two years

First draft: August 2003

Adoption as Commission proposal: September 2005

Review and amendment by Council and European

Parliament 2005-2007

Adopted by the Council 31st July 2007

Implementation 2008 onwards

Principles

• Member States free to use sources according to national practice

• Harmonised statistical definitions• UN recommendations• EU legislation

• Emphasis on metadata• Comprehensive legal framework• Flexibility• Transparency

Content of the Regulation

Article 1. It establishes common rules for the collection and compilation

of Community statistics on: Immigration to and emigration from the Member State

territories, including flows from the territory of one Member state to that of another member state and flows between a member state and the territory of a third country;

Citizenship and country of birth of persons usually resident in the territory of the Member States;

Administrative and judicial procedures and processes in the Member states relating to immigration, granting of permission to reside, citizenship, asylum and other forms of international protection and the prevention of illegal immigration.

Content of the Regulation

Article 2. Definitions: Usual residence Immigration, Emigration Citizenship, Country of birth Immigrant, Emigrant Long-term resident Third country national Application for international protection Refugee status, Subsidiary protection status Family members Temporary protection Unaccompanied minor External borders Third country nationals refused entry, Third country nationals found to be

illegally present Resettlement.

Content of the Regulation

Article 3. Statistics on international migration, usually resident population and acquisition of citizenship

Immigrants by:– groups of citizenship (incl. EU/non-EU), by age and sex– groups of country of birth by age and sex– groups of country of previous usual residence by age and sex

Emigrants by:– groups of citizenship– age– sex– Groups of countries of next usual residence

Content of the Regulation

Article 3 (ctd)

Persons having usual residence in the Member State by:– groups of citizenship (incl. EU/non-EU), by age and sex– groups of country of birth by age and sex– groups of country of previous usual residence by age and sex

Acquisition of citizenship by:– former citizenship– age and sex

Content of the Regulation

Article 4 Statistics on international protection

Persons having submitted an application (or been included as a family member)

Persons who are subjects of applications for international protection (applications in process)

Applications for international protection having been withdrawn

Monthly data, by age, sex and citizenship;

Content of the Regulation

Article 4 (ctd) Statistics on international protection

Persons covered by first instance decisions rejecting applications (incl inadmissable, unfounded, accelerated procedures).

Persons covered by first instance decisions granting or withdrawing:– refugee status, subsidiary protection, temporary protection, authorisation to stay for

humanitarian reasons Also, persons covered by final decisions for all the above categories

Quarterly figures, by age, sex and citizenship;

Unaccompanied minors (applicants for international protection)

Resettlement Annual figures by age, sex and citizenship

Content of the Regulation

Article 4 (ctd) Statistics on international protection

Dublin Regulation data– Requests for taking back/taking charge of an asylum

seeker)– Provisions (reasons for the decision)– Decisions taken– Number of transfers– Number of requests for information

annual data

Content of the Regulation

Article 5.Statistics on the prevention of illegal entryand stay (former CIREFI data)

– Third-country nationals refused entry at the MS external border (total numbers)

– Third-country nationals found to be illegally present (by age and sex and by citizenship)

annual data

Content of the Regulation

Article 6 Statistics on residence permits and residence of third country nationalsPermits issued for the first time, by citizenship, reason and length of validity of the permit

Permits issued and granted on (change of status or reason to stay) by citizenship reason and length of validity of the permit

valid permits at the end of the reference period

number of residents at the end of the reference period, by citizenship

annual data, some types of visas will be included

Content of the Regulation

Article 7 Statistics on Returns

The number of third country nationals found to be illegally present, subject to an order declaring their stay is illegal, imposing an obligation to leave

The number of third country nationals who have in fact left the territory of the Member state, by citizenship

annual data, not including Dublin transfers

Content of the Regulation

Article 8 Additional disaggregations

• This article sets out the additional disaggregations that may be included in the implementing measures

• In general it allows for the inclusion of more breakdown and cross-tabulation by age, sex, and reasons

Content of the Regulation

Article 9 Data sources and quality standards

This article sets out which sources shall be used for the supply of

the data:• Records of administrative and judicial actions• Registers relating to administrative actions• Registers of population (or a sub-group of the population)• Censuses• Surveys• Scientific estimates• Metadata, revisions and corrections will be supplied to Eurostat

without delay

Content of the Regulation

Article 10 Implementing measures• This are provided for in order to:• Update definitions• Define • categories of groups of countries• categories of reasons• additional disaggregations and levels of disaggregation• Lay down rules on accuracy and quality standards

Content of the Regulation

Article 11. CommitteeStatistical Programme Committee (Directors General of NSOs)

Article 12. Report to the European Parliament and the Council, every three years, on the statistics

Article 13 Repeals Regulation 311/76 Article 14 The Regulation comes into force 20 days after

publication (binding in its entirety and applicable in all Member States)

Publicly accessible data and the need for users to provide feedback

Networks– European Migration Network– IMISCOE – academic network of excellence - cluster

Projects– THESIM– PROMINSTAT (www.prominstat.eu)– ILMAS support for the implementation of the regulation– National initiatives

Access to official information– Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Reports– Eurostat New Cronos database free access to data

Annual Report on Asylum and Migration in the EU

On the DG Justice and Home Affairs website Includes all EU27 Member State (+Iceland,

Norway) Annual figures on immigration, asylum and

return Report on 2001 Report on 2002 Report on 2003 Report on 2004