The European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) have launched the call for applications to participate in the 2nd meeting of the European Migration Forum, which will take place on 6-7 April 2016 in Brussels. The goal of the forum is to serve as “platform for dialogue between civil society and the European institutions on issues relating to migration, asylum and the integration of third-country nationals”. The first meeting under this name was held in January 2015, but it is not a completely new process, but rather
can be considered a follow-up to the European Integration Forum (EIF). 11 meetings of the EIF took place between 2009 and 2014, and more info on the process can be found here:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.immigration-and-asylum-european-integration-forum
The first meeting of the European Migration Forum was held on 26 and 27 January 2015 under the heading: ‘Safe routes, safe futures. How to manage the mixed flows of migrants across the Mediterranean?’
A report on this meeting can be found here:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.events-and-activities-european-migration-forum-1
The second edition will address a wider range of topics, based on consultations with civil society organisations.
These are the planned topics so far, subject to change:
- Low- and medium-skilled migrant workers (what could be done at EU level other than the Blue Card?)
- Undeclared work and the exploitation of migrants (transposition of the Employers Sanction Directive; ways to detect and tackle exploitation)
- Domestic and care work – specific challenges in this sector
- Access to the labour market for refugees and asylum seekers including the issue of recognising qualifications
According to the call for applications, the aim of the forum is “to enhance coordination and cooperation between key players. It also informs EU decision making in the areas of migration, asylum and integration. As a result of the Forum’s work, the European institutions will be better informed about the main challenges that civil society organisations and social partners face on the ground and on how to contribute to their efforts to meet migrants’ needs.”
Civil society organizations must be legally based in one of the EU Member States to be able to apply.
The full call with more details and the application form can be found here:
This is obviously a new process – as one will notice when clicking on the link to the forum that is provided on the EESC website, which is actually not working (yet or at least for me): 😉
In any case, these seems like a potentially promising process and I will look into possibilities to participate in and report from the forum.
The GFMD, Migration, Development and Human Rights 
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