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Migration and Home Affairs

Who are we?

The European Migration Network (EMN) is an EU network of migration and asylum experts who work together to provide objective, comparable policy-relevant information and knowledge on emerging issues relating to asylum and migration in Europe.

The EMN was established in 2008 (Council Decision 2008/381/EC) and amended by Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council in April 2014. The Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission coordinates the EMN.

For more details about the EMN, read the EMN information leaflet.

EMN National Contact Points

The EMN consists of National Contact Points (NCPs) in the EMN Member (EU Member States except Denmark) and Observer Countries (NO, GE, MD, UA, ME, AM, RS), the European Commission and the EMN Service Provider (ICF).

Each EMN NCP is appointed by the relevant national government. EMN NCPs are located within Ministries of Interior, Ministries of Justice, specialised government agencies dealing with migration, research Institutes, non-governmental organisations and national offices of international organisations.

For more information about each EMN member, visit the EMN members webpage.

EMN Steering Board

The EMN Steering Board provides strategic guidance on EMN activities. It is chaired by the European Commission and is comprised of one representative from each EU country, as well as observers from the European Parliament, Norway, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. The European Commission is assisted in its coordinating role by a secretariat and other service providers.

What do we do?

The EMN produces reports, studies and other publications which analyse migration and asylum policies and track legislative developments in this field. The EMN publishes the latest migration and asylum related developments in a quarterly bulletin and maintains a glossary of migration and asylum-related terms. The network also organises webinars, roundtables, conferences and other events on a regular basis, both at EU and national level.

EMN outputs respond proactively to the immediate information needs of EU and national policymakers. These include:

Funding and work programmes

The EMN is funded by the European Commission through the asylum, migration and integration fund. A biennial budget is allocated to support the work of every Member State based EMN NCP, each of which are co-financed by national funds.

Biennial EMN work programmes are developed by the EMN and approved by the European Commission. The EMN publishes status reports on its progress in implementing the EMN work programmes.

EMN Return Expert Group (REG)

The EMN Return Expert Group functions as a platform for practical cooperation and the sharing of good practice and expertise on return.

Multi-level network

The EMN collaborates with other EU level agencies (for example EUAA, Frontex, FRA) and institutions on legal and irregular migration and return.