A special report published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) argues that the EU programmes for integration of third-country nationals are hampered by complex design and lack of coordination between funds. The Court therefore recommends simplification of programming arrangements and a comprehensive assessment of integration needs regardless of whether migrants have EU or third-country nationality.

This special report nº 22/2012 published by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and entitled “Do the European Integration Fund and European Refugee Fund contribute effectively to the integration of third-country nationals?” addressed whether the European Integration Fund and European Refugee Fund of the SOLID programme contribute effectively to the integration of third-country nationals. The ECA found that while positive results could be observed at the level of individual audited projects, inadequate systems had been set up to measure the success of the Funds. In March 2012, MEPs agreed in a new resettlement programme aimed to take up more refugees.

The audit concluded that at the individual project level, there are positive results, but this does not necessarily represent success at a broader level, not least due to overall implementation being lower than planned in 2007 and 2008. Moreover, the report highlights that it has not been possible to measure success of the annual programmes due to the lack of a proper monitoring and valuation system.

The ECA therefore recommends to simplify the programming arrangements with single national programmes to cover the whole period, give due consideration to proportionality with the amount of funds involved and the impact on resources, as well as drawing on previous experience in similar funds, carry out a comprehensive assessment of needs for integration regardless of whether migrants have EU or third-country nationality, place greater importance on obtaining concrete details on the assurance of coherence and complementarity in EU funds from Member States, set-up an obligatory system of common indicators, and Member States should set target values for national programmes, and ensure that its key guidelines are ready in advance and that Member States have set up adequate Management and Control Systems.