Migration is a much-debated topic in the Netherlands and other European Union (EU) Member States. Everyone seems to have an opinion about it. This is precisely why factual information about migration and asylum matters. The European Migration Network (EMN), as a European research network on migration and asylum, provides this information. EMN Netherlands is the Dutch contact point (NCP) of the EMN.
EU Member States are working towards common policies on migration and asylum. This is important because there is free movement of people within the EU. Moreover, Europe competes economically with other parts of the world, for example in attracting highly skilled workers. Such a joint policy requires objective, reliable and comparable information on migration and asylum in the EU Member States.
European migration and asylum policy
The EMN’s research output, including that of EMN Netherlands, is intended for EU and Member State policymakers and authorities, academics, other migration professionals, and the general public. With its research results, EMN Netherlands supports policymakers in developing evidence-based migration and asylum policy. The EMN Studies focus on migration and asylum from non-EU/EFTA countries ('third countries'). All information provided by the EMN is publicly available. The EMN is an important source of information for the European Commission (EC) on European migration and asylum policy.
EMN Netherlands contributes to EMN Studies, informs and information requests (ad hoc queries/AHQs), initiates them itself, and contributes to the EMN’s strategy and approach at EU level. For each study and inform, EMN Netherlands maps the Dutch situation and compares it with other Member States (benchmarks/two-pagers).
Organisation
The EMN consists of the EC and the NCPs in the Member States. All EU Member States (except Denmark) are part of the EMN, along with Albania, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Northern Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom as observer countries. The EMN has its legal basis in Council Decision 2008/381/EC (14 May 2008) and is funded by the EC and the Member States. EMN Netherlands is placed within the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) in the Hague and is part of its Research and Analysis department.
The EMN Steering Board consists of one representative per Member State, plus a representative from the European Parliament. The European Commission chairs the EMN. A representative from the Migration Policy Directorate of the Ministry of Justice and Security is a member of the EMN Board on behalf of EMN Netherlands.
In addition, the Return Experts Group (EMN REG) is part of the EMN. The Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V) of the Ministry of Justice and Security is a member on behalf of EMN Netherlands. EMN REG deals with:
- knowledge and expertise exchange;
- cooperation on return to countries of origin;
- reintegration programmes in countries of origin.
> European Migration Network (European Commission)
