After the launch of the New Pact on on Migration and Asylum, the European Commission has announced a new Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion for 2021 – 2024, to be published in the last quarter of this year.
The document, which follows the previous Action Plan on the Integration of Third Country Nationals (2016) is meant to provide strategic guidance and set concrete actions to foster inclusion of refugees, migrants and their families. It will draw on all relevant policies and tools in key areas such as social inclusion, employment, education, health, equality, culture and sport, setting out how migrant integration should be part of efforts to achieve the EU’s goals on each one of these areas.
The forthcoming Action Plan is a significant opportunity to develop a coordinated integration policy, ensuring that all people arriving and residing in the EU have the opportunity to build a dignified life and to actively participate in society. Its focus on both integration and inclusion strengthens the understanding of integration as a “two-way process”, which remains to be adequately reflected in current policy approaches.
Ahead of its release, we have taken stock of existing analyses on the social inclusion of migrants and refugees, as carried out by ECRE, PICUM and their member organisations. We’ve also provided specific policy recommendations on coordinated governance, on coherence with existing EU funds, and on mainstreaming integration outcomes across migration and asylum policies.
Click below to find out more in our policy paper.Cover image credit: Copyright – End Child Detention, Artwork by Monann De Jong