What is the EMN?
The European Migration Network (EMN) is a Europe-wide network providing information on migration and asylum. The EMN consists of National Contact Points (NCPs) in the EMN Member (EU Member States except Denmark) and Observer Countries (NO, GE, MD, UA, ME, AM, RS), the European Commission and the EMN Service Provider (ICF). The NCPs can be located within government agencies dealing with migration, academic institutions, non-governmental organisations or other organizations appointed by the respective Member State.
The EMN was legally established under the Council Decision 2008/381/EC, as amended. EMN National Contact Point in the Czech Republic is located within the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior.
Organization of the EMN
Each Member State has one National Contact Point (NCP). Activities of respective NCPs are coordinated and financed by the European Commission. The strategic guidance of EMN is provided by the Steering Board, which is chaired by the European Commission and comprises of one representative from all Member States and Norway.
Representatives from NCPs meet regularly at meetings organized by the European Commission. Aside from these meetings, workshops on diverse topics are held as well. Within the EMN structure, the
EMN Return Expert Group functions as a platform for practical cooperation and sharing of expertise on return of third country nationals to their countries of origin.
Currently, the EMN has expanded and the network has been joined by some “third countries with observer status”. This refers to the non-EU countries which are interested in sharing information and good practices in the field of migration. At present, Norway and newly also Georgia and Moldova are part of the EMN as third countries with observer status.
We work together across Europe
What does the EMN do?
The added value of EMN lies in the provision of objective, comparable and policy-relevant information on current situation, developments and practice in the field of asylum and migration. To fulfil its purpose, the EMN regularly publishes many different types of outputs ranging from thematic studies to annual reports. The EMN produces ad-hoc queries and in this way enables the Member States and Norway to swiftly exchange information on various topics.
To improve comparability of terms and definitions relating to asylum and migration, the EMN has created a multilingual EMN Glossary, which is regularly updated. The Glossary contains terms (in English) connected with asylum and migration. A glossary entry comprises of a definition of the concept, the source of the definition, or notes specifying the usage of the term. The terms are translated into national languages of Member States (including Czech language), Norwegian and English (except for Croatian and Danish). The Glossary is available in digital format, as an interactive PDF document or as a mobile app, which can be downloaded (for free) at Google Play and App Store.
A significant part of the EMN activities lies in the organization of conferences. Annually, the EMN holds two international Conferences in the Member State currently presiding over the EU Council. In addition, all EMN NCPs hold their own conferences and events at national level to discuss current topics according to their priorities.
The EMN makes an effort to share information on migration topics not only with the experts in the field of migration but also with the general public. In order to meet this goal, many NCPs have established communication channels and the most widely used are twitter accounts (see for instance @EMNMigration) and YouTube channels. The Czech NCP has also a twitter account @EMNCzech.
Studies
EMN prepares several studies on specific topics every year, which mirror the current developments in the field of asylum and migration. The topics of studies are chosen on the basis of Member States´ preferences. Each Member State then creates its National Contribution based on a common study template.
Consequently, a Synthesis Report summarizing the main findings from the studies prepared by the National Contact Points is published by the European Commission.
Each Study is published as a package of publications that includes National Contribution of a Member State, EU Synthesis Report (summary of key findings from all Member States), Inform, Flash and a brief Summary in the Czech language (to learn more about these types of publications go to “others”).
Informs
Informs are rather shorter texts that contain concise summaries of the most significant findings on a specific topic gathered from sources such as Studies and Ad-Hoc Queries.
Annual Reports
Every year, Member States of the EMN prepare Annual Reports on Migration and Asylum which reflect the most significant developments and debates at a Member State level in the area of migration. The Report contains the most important policy and legislative developments and its essential part are also topical statistics. The main findings from the National Reports prepared by the National Contact Points are then summarized by the European Commission and published as EU Synthesis Report.
Each Annual Report is, therefore, published as a package of publications that includes National Report of a Member State, EU Synthesis Report (summary of key findings from all Member States), Inform, Flash and Statistical Annex.
Ad-hoc Queries
Ad-hoc Queries represent one of the key activities of the EMN since they enable to collect information from Member States and Norway in a relatively short time. With the help of this tool, Member States or the European Commission may ask questions regarding the field of migration and asylum and in the period of 30 days acquire a general overview of responding Member States and Norway in relation to the enquired topic. After gathering the answers from Member States a Compilation is created, which is then disseminated among the general public, experts practitioners etc.
Full list of published ad-hoc queries can be found on the European Commission website.
Bulletin
The EMN publishes Bulletins which are quarterly newsletters providing an update on recent EU and national developments on migration and asylum as well as providing an overview of key statistics in Member States and Norway.
Others
Next, the EMN publishes also Situational Reports which saturate the urgent need for information on burning issues. Each Study and Annual Report that are published as a package of publications are complemented by a National Contribution, EU Synthesis Report, Inform and Flash, which is a short (one page long) overview of questions to which the concerned study attempts to find an answer. In relation to the aforementioned packages of publications, the Czech National Contact Point publishes short summaries of the most significant findings in the Czech language.
National Network
EMN represents a platform for acquiring information not only from state institutions, but from other actors such as research and scientific institutions and non-governmental organizations as well.
Each NCP creates its own national network of organizations and experts working in the field of migration and asylum. These institutions or organizations cooperate on the publications and other outputs of the Czech NCP or they regularly attend its events.