Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. 4th annual report on immigration and asylum (2012)

Summary:

The year 2012 saw a nearly 10% increase in the number of asylum applications due partly to the conflict in Syria necessitating both humanitarian and protection responses from the EU. This illustrates the importance of finally completing the Common European Asylum System, in order to have a uniform protection status across the EU.

The economic crisis continued to focus the minds of Europe's leaders on ensuring recovery and growth. Although unemployment remained very high, many Member States faced labour and skills shortages in certain sectors. The share of the EU working-age population (15-64 year old age group) from the total EU population already reached its peak in 2006 according to Eurostat data. The old-age dependency ratio reached 26.8% in 2012 and it is projected to increase sharply up to 52.6% by 2060. Against that background, well-managed migration can play a positive role in boosting growth and addressing labour market shortages.

In 2012 key initiatives were proposed, negotiated and completed, reflecting the dynamism of policy-making on migration and asylum and the growing need for a coherent EU response. Negotiations continued to establish funding mechanisms beyond 2013 through the Asylum and Migration Fund Regulation and on the proposals for the recast of the EURODAC Regulation, as well as on Directives on Asylum Procedures, Seasonal workers and Intra-corporate transferees.

Another important development was the start of operations of the EU Agency for the management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice, notably for the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), the Visa Information System (VIS) and EURODAC. The Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) furthermore continued to serve as the overarching framework of the EU's external migration and asylum policy. The role of the common visa policy to spur growth in the EU has also been in focus in 2012.

This report is principally based on the Commission's political assessments and is complemented by a factual staff working document with an annex providing statistical details on developments at both EU and Member State levels, collected by the European Migration Network (EMN). A report on the development of the Immigration Liaison Officers network is also included in the staff working document.

• Primary Source

Official

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)422: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:422:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)210: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the communication http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:210:FIN

---

ESO Records

ESO: Background information: Commission report calls for forward-looking policies on migration http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-commission-report-calls-for-forward-looking-policies-on-migration/

---