This working paper is a comparative analysis of the EU Member States’ allocations of the financial resources, mix of grants and loans, they receive from the European Commission to support the COVID-19 recovery (via the so-called Next Generation EU).
While the European Commission has clarified that Next Generation EU (NGEU) should not include allocations for migration and border management, interventions to provide support to inter alia cohesion provide an opportunity to support activities that involve refugees and migrants through e.g. support of strengthening the asylum system, improving reception capacity, expanding access to social services.
The paper looks at which kind of actions will be funded and whether this responds to previous recommendations of the European Commission.
The research process consisted of checking the country needs identified in the European Semester report and then comparing the findings with the resources allocated in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans of EU Member States; to see how they are planning to use the money and filter out the issues related to migrants and refugees.
The research covered the following 10 countries, ensuring geographical diversity: Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Czech Republic.
Each country has 5 sections as follows:
- General social needs identified in the European Semester regarding migrants and refugees
- Short description of the NRRP and reference to asylum, migration and integration
- Other mentions of social inclusion and vulnerable or margnialised groups
- European Commission assessment of the recovery and resilience plan with regard to social inclusion, and more specifically, third country nationals
- NRRP allocation to other areas related to migration and asylum
The working paper was commissioned by ECRE and the research was coordinated within the Voicify Project. Voicify aims at building an inclusive Europe where young refugees, exiled, migrants, asylum seekers and undocumented, Y.R.E.M.A.S.U.D, can shape policies and decisions that affect them. With Voicify, Y.R.E.M.A.S.U.D self-led organizations work to advance their political participation in the European Union and build the first European umbrella organization that represents them. Voicify is a partnership between The Young Republic and Voices of Young Refugees in Europe, and funded by EPIM (European Program for Integration and Migration).
For further information:
- ECRE & PICUM Policy Note: Ensuring an inclusive recovery for all: ECRE and PICUM comments on the Next Generation EU package and REACT-EU, July 2020
- ECRE, Op-ed: The EU Recovery Plan for Europe – Potential for Inclusion but on a tied Deadline, May 2020