ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

In 2004, the Commission issued a
Communication on durable solutions 12
that explored ‘all parameters in order
to ensure more orderly and managed
entry in the EU of persons in need
of international protection’. 13 The
Communication proposed a ‘situationspecific’
EU resettlement scheme, in
which the participation of Member
States would be ‘flexible’ (although the
term ‘voluntary’ was not present in the
text in this regard).
Although the Communication envisaged
that the European Commission would
submit a proposal for an EU resettlement
scheme to the Council by
July 2005, a lack of political impetus
from Member States delayed delivery
of the proposal until the Swedish EU
Presidency in September 2009. In the
intervening period, resettlement was
introduced as one component within
EU Regional Protection Programmes
(RPPs) which Member States could
implement on a voluntary basis. 14
A discussion of RPPs and European
funding for resettlement follows in the
sections below.
12 European Commission Communication from the
Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament on the Managed Entry in the EU of
persons in need of international protection and
the enhancement of the protection capacity of the
regions of origin ‘improving access to durable solutions’,
4 June 2004
13 First objective Conclusion 26, ibid.
14 European Commission, Communication from the
Commission to the Council and the European
Parliament on Regional Protection Programmes, 1
September 2005, COM(2005) 388 final
101
4. REGIONAL PROTECTION
PROGRAMMES (RPPS)
AND RESETTLEMENT
The 2005 ‘Communication from the
Commission to the Council and the
European Parliament on Regional
Protection Programmes’ created
Regional Protection Programmes
(RPPs). RPPs are international protection
instruments that aim to improve
refugee protection in target regions
through the provision of durable solutions.
Voluntary repatriation and local
integration are the primary durable
solutions considered within RPPs,
with resettlement to a third country
considered when neither of these is
feasible. 15
There is no specific financial instrument
dedicated to RPPs, which are instead
mainly funded under the Thematic
Programme ‘Cooperation with Third
Countries in the areas of Migration
and Asylum’, within the development
budget of the European Commission. 16
For the period 2011-2013, 20-30
per cent of the ‘thematic priorities’
15 See Chapter I for more information on durable
solutions.
16 Thematic Programme ‘Cooperation with Third
Countries in the areas of Migration and Asylum’ -
2011-2013 Multi-Annual Strategy Paper. Some RPP
projects were also funded through the following
EU instruments: AENEAS 5 - financial and technical
assistance to third countries in the field of migration
and asylum;TACIS Programme 2000-2006 - aimed at
promoting the transition to a market economy and
reinforcing democracy and the rule of law in the
partner states in Eastern Europe and Central Asia;
andthe European Development Fund.
CHAPTER VI CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VII