Managing migration and addressing global security require intense international cooperation, which includes the following specialised international organisations.
UNHCR
The EU works closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on refugee and asylum issues. The aim is to enhance asylum capacity-building and refugee protection in non-EU countries.
The EU’s financial support to UNHCR and political engagement has increased in the past years to address the rising numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers in the EU and partner countries.
The EU and UNHCR hold an annual Strategic Dialogue.
The Global Compact on Refugees was adopted on 17 December 2018 at the UN General Assembly. The Refugee Compact is a legally non-binding framework for cooperation at global/UN level on refugee protection.
IOM
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a key partner for the EU to implement migration-related policies.
To enhance cooperation on migration, development, humanitarian response and human rights issues, the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) established a framework for strategic partnership with IOM in July 2012. The framework builds on a shared interest in bringing the benefits of well managed international migration to migrants and society.
Adopted in December 2018 by the UN General Assembly, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration provides cooperative framework on migration at UN level. UN Member States review the implementation of the Compact through the International Migration Review Forum, which takes place every four years. The European Commission participated in the last Forum in 2022.
Other United Nations agencies
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is the EU's principal partner in combatting drug trafficking, organised crime, corruption, firearms and money laundering. It was formalised through exchange letters in 2005, between the UNODC Executive Director and the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security.
An annual Senior Officials Meeting, led by the European External Action Service, focusses on strategic policy exchange in areas of common interest. The EU participates in the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The EU is a full party, as a regional economic integration organisation, to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
In the field of counter-terrorism, within the framework established by the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee , the EU supports non-EU countries applying UN instruments on counter-terrorism. The EU works closely with the UN Office on Counter-Terrorism and other relevant UN organisations, including the UN Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate.
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe and EU have a long tradition of co-operation which draws on their shared values: human rights; democracy and the rule of law.
The rule of law is a prerequisite for the fulfilment and consolidation of the other fundamental values of human rights and democracy.
OECD
The OECD is a key partner in the area of migration, particularly on monitoring migration (IMO reports) and on providing policy analysis on labour migration and integration. The Commission’s department (DG HOME) in charge of migration and home affairs represents the European Commission in the OECD’s Working Party on Migration, which formally reports to the OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee.