In July this year the European Commission submitted to the European Parliament the Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum for 2012.

Migration has been and will be a part of the European Union (EU), as shown in the report, and the years to come will bring new challenges that will need to be addressed. Migration may be a solution for covering the labour force deficit in EU countries, with well-managed migration and integration. The increasing number of incidents of violence against immigrants in the EU is alarming, and such xenophobic attitudes may be countered by adequate migration policies.

However, as shown in the report's conclusions, development of immigration and asylum policies cannot be done without budgetary support. "There is still a need to ensure that the overall framework for the European Union's budget for the period 2014 to 2020 is agreed and effectively put in place." Proposals should be found urgently so that necessary measures can be put in place at the beginning of 2014.

The Commission will hold "policy dialogues" with Member States, prior to the
negotiations on their multiannual programmes, and these dialogues should lead to good results and a positive outcome.
In the meantime, Member States are called upon to make full use of the funds that are currently available, to support the implementation of EU's migration policy. The Commission looks forward to further debates on the basis of this report, both in the European Parliament and the Council.

The annual report for 2012 on migration and asylum may be consulted at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/immigration/general/docs/4th_annual_report_on_immigration_and_asylum_en.pdf

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/documents/policies/immigration/general/docs/4th_annual_report_on_immigration_and_asylum_en.pdf