Application of Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of EU citizens and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States

2008/2184(INI)

The Council adopted conclusions assessing the implementation of the global approach to the migration issue and the partnership with countries of origin and transit.

The Council reaffirmed that the Global Approach remains wholly relevant and that the guidelines remain valid, particularly as regards the three components of the global approach (good organisation of legal migration; the effective prevention of and fight against illegal immigration; and the strengthening of the relationship between migration and development). However, the Council notes that the implementation of the Global Approach has yet to face some challenges, linked in particular to:

  • the limitations of the various partners' administrative and technical capacity;
  • the time needed to develop initiatives and to obtain concrete results in this sensitive area;
  • the coordination required between the competent administrations on both sides;
  • the complexity of the financial tools;
  • the need to improve the coordination with overall external relations with the interested country or the region in question.

The Council stresses that the Global Approach has already been reflected in several concrete and positive initiatives promoting a better understanding of all aspects of migration and new forms of dialogue and cooperation. It offers a common policy framework which makes it possible to improve the integration of migration issues into the European Union's external relations, on the basis of an effective and balanced partnership with third countries. This reference framework governs the European Union's constructive dialogue on migration issues with other regional groupings (including Africa, the Mediterranean and the east and southeast of the European Union).

The Council concludes that the success of the Global Approach in practice calls for more coordination and consistency between policies, particularly in the relationship with the external relations of the European Union and with development policies, sustained political commitment, and expanded and improved capacities to act.