Lion’s share of three times the EU immigration budget aimed at border control

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Funds dedicated to the transition will triple with the proposal of the EU Perennial Financial Framework (MFF), but the 48 billion euro lion share is allocated for policies related to border protection and police operations.

Of the total 74 billion euros allocated in the MFF “to make Europe safer and safer,” 26 billion euros will be devoted to immigration management, including issues related to asylum seekers reception and other non-border-related issues.

Committee chair Ursula von der Reyen’s 2 trillion euro MFF proposal is designed to cover seven years since 2028.

In the past 2021-2027 budget, a total of 250 billion euros have been allocated to migration, with 14 billion euros aimed at border control and 11 billion euros aimed at asylum acceptance and integration.

Therefore, the proportion of budgets allocated to border control is increasing due to almost equally unbalanced.

In the next budget cycle, only EU border agency Frontex will win 12 billion euros under the proposal, and is expected to undergo ocean changes next year, with staff rising sharply and new engagement rules at EU Borders.

In addition to these funds, other budget lines allocated under the so-called “Global European Instruments” can be used to prevent immigrants from arriving in Europe.

External actions of the EU include macro-financial support for third countries. This is often linked to their commitment to preventing immigrants from leaving the coast.

EU officials said funding for third countries that have failed to manage irregular migrants could be suspended.

Critics from civil society

This approach has been criticized by human rights groups that oversee the work of the Migration Commission.

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“The proposal for interior finances focuses on border control at the expense of asylum and inclusion,” the Council of European Refugees and Asylum (ECRE) told Euronows in a statement.

“The proposals on border and migration policy are once again focused on militarizing the border and escalating courses that the EU has been around for over a decade despite continued failures in all respects,” Wapenhandel researchers Mark Akkerman and the Thransnational Institute told Euronows.

“Billions of proposed spending will mostly end in arms companies’ pockets, while those on the move will continue to face death, violence, risks and human rights violations,” he added.

“What we know is that the proposal is to increase funds that have sponsored violent border surveillance in the past, such as border surveillance and visa equipment and internal security funds. The same is that it is an institution that has been accused of being complicated by complicity in human rights abuses at borders.”

Euronows did not receive a reply at the time of publication and asked the European Commission for some explanations on long-term spending.

This report is based on MFF budget information available up to this point – not yet published.

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