The European Court of Auditors has published an audit highlighting the difficulties in assessing the actual impact of EU support for migrant integration.
The report indicates that it is impossible to precisely evaluate the outcomes of EU-funded measures aimed at integrating migrants. While the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF) has supported numerous valuable initiatives, the audit identified shortcomings related to the programs’ complex administrative structure and insufficient alignment with migrants’ actual needs. Furthermore, the information provided by EU member states on achieved results has been deemed unreliable.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the number of non-EU citizens legally residing in the EU has risen to 27.3 million, accounting for 6.1% of the Union’s total population in 2023. The majority of these migrants (around 73%) are concentrated in four countries: Germany (28%), Spain (16%), France (15%), and Italy (14%).
The AMIF budget for 2014–2020 was approximately €1 billion, nearly doubling to €1.9 billion for the 2021–2027 period. Additional funding is managed directly by the European Commission for implementing integration measures.
Other EU funds, such as the European Social Fund (ESF), its updated version ESF+, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and programs like Erasmus+, also contribute to the integration of migrants and individuals with migration backgrounds.
