Integration of migrants: local and regional authorities must be involved in national and European policies

Paris, 19 octobre 2016 - The Congress held an exchange of views on the role of local and regional authorities in the face of migration with representatives from 42 national associations of local and regional authorities, gathered in Paris, on 19 September 2016, for the regular General Meeting organised by the Congress before its renewal session. “Without necessarily having powers and resources at their disposal, local and regional authorities are in fact finding themselves faced with managing the influx of refugees and migrants”, stated the Secretary General of the Congress, Andreas Kiefer,who opened the discussion by introducing the report “Reception and integration of migrants and refugees at local and regional level”, prepared by Yoomi Renström (Sweden, SOC) and György Illes (Hungary, ILDG).

The participants unanimously underlined that this is an issue which must be coordinated at European level and which cannot be solved solely at national level. Remo Granga, from the Italian association of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (AICCRE), declared that “all too often the countries located at the European continent’s external borders find themselves on the front line and bear the full burden of this massive influx. The municipalities become passive managers without being involved in the policies decided at national level.” This assessment was shared by many participants in the debate who presented the situations in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Azerbaijan and Norway.

Three key points were noted: the need for solidarity within member states between the different levels of governance, and also between states; political involvement of local and regional authorities in decisions taken at national level and, lastly, the pooling of good practices among European local and regional authorities.