European municipalities assume direct responsibility for the Reception and integration of migrants and refugees. Nevertheless, they are notoriously underfunded and excluded from most EU decisions on asylum and migration policy.
This Policy Brief sheds light on the complexity, the effort involved and the prospects for Access to EU funds for reception and integration costs in municipalities. We provide an overview of the various EU funding mechanisms in this area, the basic functioning of the funds and the controversial debates surrounding the current EU budget 2021-2027. In view of the persistent deficits in terms of access to and participation of municipalities in the programming of funds, we conclude the policy brief with some recommendations.