ABOUT THE EUROPEAN MIGRATION NETWORK

The Council of Europe adopted a decision in 14 May 2008 No 2008/381/EC, establishing a European Migration Network (hereinafter – Network).

OBJECTIVE OF THE NETWORK

The objective of the Network shall be to meet the information needs of Community institutions and of Member States’ authorities and institutions on migration and asylum, by providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum, with a view to supporting policymaking in the European Union in these areas.

TASKS OF THE NETWORK

• collect actual and reliable data and information from different sources and exchanges existing data and information;
• analyze the before mentioned data and information and provides them in readily accessible format;
• in cooperation with other structures of the European Union  contribute to the elaboration of indicators and criteria in order to improve the consistency of information and to elaborate the actions of the Community related to migration statistics;
• on a regular basis prepare and publish the reports on the migration and asylum situation in the Community and Member States;  
• create and maintain internet-based information exchange system accessible to the public providing the access to relevant documents and publications on migration and asylum;
• extend the information about the Network making accessible collected and stored existing data and information and distributing the Network’s performance results unless such information is classified (confidential);
• coordinate the information exchange and cooperate with other relevant European structures and international authorities.
  

STRUCTURE OF THE NETWORK

The Network is composed of:

• network of national contact points designated by the Member States
• the European Commission.
  

STEERING BOARD

The Network is guided by the Steering Board composed of one representative from each Member State and one representative of the Commission, assisted by two scientific experts.

The Steering Board:

• contribute to the preparation of and approve the Network's annual programme of activities;
•  review progress made by the Network;
• provide a succinct status report to the European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions concerning the ongoing activities of the Network and the key findings of its studies;
• identify the most appropriate strategic cooperative relationships with other entities competent in the area of migration and asylum and approve, when necessary, the administrative arrangements for such cooperation;
• advise the National Contact Points on how to improve their operations, and help them to take the necessary actions, when identified persistent shortcomings in the work of a National Contact Point may have negative consequences on the work of the EMN.

NATIONAL CONTACT POINTS

In order to facilitate the work of the Network and to ensure the achievement of its objectives, each Member State design one entity what works as National Contact Point.

The National Contact Point consists at least of three experts, who have common experience in the migration and asylum area, including the aspects of policy-making, legislation, researches and statistics.

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