The Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) of the European Committee of the Regions has adopted the opinion on Union Support for Asylum, Migration and Integration Management 2028–2034, led by rapporteur Arnoldas Abramavičius (LT/EPP), Councillor of Zarasai, Lithuania. The opinion sets out key priorities for the next EU long-term budget, emphasising the need for dedicated funding, stronger involvement of local and regional authorities, improved access to funding mechanisms, and increased flexibility to respond to crises.
Addressing the CIVEX commission, Abramavičius said: “Local and regional authorities are the ones organising reception, supporting integration, ensuring access to housing, education, healthcare and employment, and responding first when pressures rise. That is why the next National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) must not treat migration as a secondary issue within broad national plans. They must guarantee a clear role for local and regional authorities in planning, management, monitoring and evaluation, and they must provide predictable, adequate and accessible funding. If Europe wants the Pact to deliver, it has to equip those who implement it locally and regionally with the resources, flexibility and capacity to turn common objectives into real results for people and communities.”
Strengthening local delivery of EU migration policy
The adopted opinion calls for a number of key measures to ensure that EU migration funding delivers results at local level:
• Alignment of EU funding with the Migration and Asylum Pact, ensuring adequate resources for all authorities involved, including local and regional authorities;
• Dedicated provisions for asylum, migration and integration within the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs), supported by a clear and accountable governance framework;
• Stronger multilevel governance, including guaranteed participation of local and regional authorities in the design, management and monitoring of national plans;
• Safeguards to ensure that local and regional authorities can effectively access funding and shape priorities;
• A balanced approach combining flexibility to respond to crises with predictable, long-term funding for integration;
• Concerns over performance-based funding models, which may disadvantage regions with structural challenges or limited administrative capacity;
• Increased investment in capacity-building, training and technical assistance for local and regional authorities;
• Support for labour market integration and the development of skills and talent, recognising the role of migration in addressing labour shortages and supporting economic growth;
• Better coordination between migration, security and other EU policies, particularly in response to hybrid threats such as the weaponisation of migration.
EPP-CoR members highlight local realities
EPP-CoR members also stressed the importance of a strong local dimension in the EU budget when it comes to migration.
Thibaut Guignard, Mayor of Plœuc-L’Hermitage, emphasised: “Local and regional authorities are on the front line of migration and integration. Our regions and communities are the ones welcoming people, supporting access to jobs and education, and turning European policy into practical action on the ground. That is why local authorities must be fully involved in decision-making and have direct access to European funding. At the same time, we must avoid adding further complexity to governance and ensure that increased financing delivers clear and effective results.”
Aleksandra Dulkiewicz, Mayor of Gdańsk, highlighted the importance of education and resilience: “Two issues deserve stronger attention in this debate on integration. First, education, which is essential to successful integration and to ensuring that local communities can respond effectively to growing needs. In some large Polish cities, around 10% of pupils already have a migration background, underlining the scale and urgency of the challenge. Second, disinformation, which is one of the main tools used against the European Union and against our collective security. If we want integration policies to succeed, we must address not only education and local capacity, but also the false narratives that seek to weaken our societies.”
Csaba Borboly, Vice-President of Harghita County, stressed the need to consider territorial diversity: “Rural, mountainous and minority-populated regions across Europe must not be forgotten in the debate on migration. In many of these areas, the real challenge is not inflows from outside, but the steady loss of our own people — young people, skilled workers, nurses, builders and craftsmen. Effective integration requires action at every level of governance, but one element must stand out more clearly: education. This debate also shows the importance of combining national experience with a strong understanding of local realities, because it is at local level that integration policies are ultimately put into practice.”
