The Official Journal of the European Union published on January, 6th,  the favourable Commission's opinion on the request from Ireland to accept Council Decision 2008/381/EC establishing a European Migration Network.

On May, 14th, 2008, the Council adopted Decision 2008/381/EC establishing a European Migration Network (EMN). As referred to in Article 1 of the Protocol on the position of Ireland, Ireland did not participate in the adoption of such Decision.

However, this same Protocol established the possibility for Ireland to join the EMN at any time after the adoption of a measure by notifying its intention to the Council and to the Commission. After examining this request, the Commission welcomed Ireland's decision to join the EMN, which is a key component of the Community asylum and migration policy, noting that Ireland continues to be a strong supporter of the EMN, contributing actively to its development and outputs.

The Commission considers that it is important to acknowledge this commitment at the earliest possible date, as this is considered also to be in the overall interests of the EU. Therefore, Decision 2008/381/EC should enter into force for Ireland on the day of the notification from Ireland of its acceptance.

European Migration Network (EMN)

The function of the European Migration Network (EMN) is to collect, analyse and distribute data on asylum and immigration in order to provide the Community and its Member States with objective, reliable and comparable information in these fields by systematically collecting and storing existing data and information from Member States and carrying out national and European level analysis.

The EMN's current tasks are:

• Collect existing data on asylum and migration.
• Carry out research work - on a restricted scale.
• Ensure the exchange of this data and of documentation.
• Analyse this data and draft comparative reports.
• Operate as a contact establishment.