This year’s Senior Officials’ Meeting held in Chisinau on 24-25 September 2024 marked the 15th anniversary of the Prague Process. Bringing together representatives from 26 participating states, the European Commission, European Agency for Asylum, IOM, UNHCR, ICMPD and Joint Coordination Platform, the meeting allowed to jointly reflect on the achievements reached to date and the priorities and lessons learned for the future.
The idea that you can solve all migration challenges just in the framework of your national administration is false. If you want to be successful in migration management, you have to cooperate with your neighbours- Tomas Urubek, Czech Republic -
ABOUT THE PRAGUE PROCESS
The Prague Process is a targeted migration dialogue and a policy process promoting migration partnerships among the countries of the European Union, Schengen area, Eastern Partnership, Western Balkans, Central Asian, as well as Türkiye.
The Process originated from the EU financed project “Building Migration Partnerships” and was initiated during the Czech EU Presidency at the 1st Prague Process Ministerial Conference in April 2009, culminating in the endorsement of the Prague Process Joint Declaration.
In the Joint Declaration, serving as a common political framework, the participating states agreed to strengthen cooperation in migration management, to explore and develop agreed principles and elements for close migration partnerships between their countries, following a comprehensive, balanced, pragmatic and operational approach, and respecting the rights and human dignity of migrants and their family members, as well as of refugees.
Over the recent years, most participating states introduced dynamic changes to their migration legislation. Non-EU states largely adapted their policies to the EU acquis. This approximation of legal systems and national practices, as well as the continuous exchange of knowledge and experience, represent the key achievements of the Prague Process to date.
The main principles and cooperation areas, set by the Joint Declaration and by adopted at the 2nd Ministerial Conference Prague Process Action Plan 2012-2016, and reconfirmed in 2022, include:
- Preventing and fighting illegal migration;
- Readmission, voluntary return and sustainable reintegration;
- Legal migration with a special emphasis on labour migration;
- Integration of legally residing migrants;
- Migration, mobility and development;
- Strengthening capacities in the area of asylum and international protection.
All six cooperation areas to a certain extent mirror the objectives of the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM), being the overarching framework of the EU external migration and asylum policy. In the context of the GAMM the Prague Process has been given a priority as a regional dialogue process towards the East. The importance of the Prague Process and its results were also recognised by the European Commission in its Communication on the GAMM of 18 November 2011, and confirmed by the Council of the European Union in its Conclusions of 29 May 2012.
In 2015 was carried out an evaluation of the Prague Process Action Plan implementation in the period 2012-2014, with the Evaluation report endorsed by the Senior Officials’ meeting in Prague in December 2015. The report concludes that the Prague Process has significantly contributed to enhancing international cooperation on migration in the region. The participating states find the six Cooperation Areas set out in the Action Plan as coherent with their national migration policies and complementary to other existing international forums, while the Prague Process activities gave an important stimulus for modifications in the migration management systems.
The current, 4th phase of the Prague Process, is shaped by the Ministerial Declaration 2022 and the Prague Process Action Plan 2023-2027 adopted at the 4th Prague Process Ministerial Conference, held by the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU on 24-25 October in Prague. The Parties decided to widen the scope of their joint work, signifying the commitment to deepen the established cooperation, while recognising present realities and pressing challenges that require joint solutions. They also have called for more operational collaboration, including through the sharing of information, capacity building, modern technologies and digitalization. The work of the Process builds upon the three main pillars: Policy Dialogue, Migration Observatory and Training Academy.
Within the new five-year mandate, the Prague Process Migration Observatory and Training Academy shall expand existing capacities and enhance the resilience of the Parties, allowing them to react quickly and flexibly to emerging challenges. Moreover, four designated Thematic Components should support the partial implementation of the Action Plan 2023-2027. The European Commission financially supports the implementation of the Action Plan through the Migration Partnership Facility. ICMPD serves as the Secretariat of the Prague Process.
Milestones
October, 2022
PHASE IV: The Czech Presidency of the Council hosted the 4th Prague Process Ministerial Conference.
September, 2016
PHASE III: Bratislava Ministerial Declaration, Prague Process Migration Observatory and Training Academy established.
November, 2011
PHASE II: 2nd Prague Process Ministerial Conference in Poznan, Prague Process Action Plan 2012-2016 adopted.
April, 2009
PHASE I: “Building Migration Partnership” Initiative, cumulated with the signature of the Prague Process Joint Declaration.
Countries
Austria / Albania / Armenia / Azerbaijan / Belgium / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Bulgaria / Croatia / Czechia / Cyprus / Denmark / Estonia / Finland / France / Georgia / Greece / Germany / Hungary / Italy / Ireland / Kazakhstan / Kyrgyzstan / Kosovo* / Liechtenstein / Latvia / Lithuania / Luxembourg / North Macedonia / Malta / Moldova (Republic of) / Montenegro / Netherlands / Norway / Poland / Portugal / Romania / Serbia / Slovenia / Slovakia / Spain / Switzerland / Sweden / Türkiye / Tajikistan / Turkmenistan / Ukraine / Uzbekistan
Duration
April 2009
Donors
European Union
Partners
The following organizations partake in the Prague Process on a regular basis: European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) / European Commission (EC) / European External Action Service (EEAS) / General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union / European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) / International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) / International Organization for Migration (IOM) / Joint Coordinated Platform (JCP) / Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI) / Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) / United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Implementing Agency
ICMPD serves as the Secretariat of the Prague Process
Funding
European Commission
MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
The Prague Process management structure encompasses the Senior Officials’ meetings, the Ministerial Conferences, the network of National Contact Points, and the Strategic Group.
The Senior Officials´ Meeting is the decision-making body of the Prague Process. The Strategic Group is composed of the Czech Republic (Chair), Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, the acting Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Commission and the Prague Process Secretariat. ICMPD serves as the Secretariat of Prague Process.
PROJECTS SUPPORTING PROCESS' OPERATIONALISATION
From 2012 to 2017, Poland and six other leading states implemented the EU-funded initiative “Support for the Implementation of the Prague Process and its Action Plan”, also known as the “Prague Process Targeted Initiative”. This initiative was led by Poland together with Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, who also took the lead in the initiative’s pilot projects and supported the Prague Process financially on an ad-hoc basis. In 2018-2022, the Prague Process was implemented through the Prague Process: Dialogue, Analyses and Training in Action (PP DATA) initiative, representing the Strand C of the Mobility Partnership Facility. The PP DATA initiative continued the senior and expert level dialogue and established the Prague Process Migration Observatory and the Prague Process Training Academy in line with the Bratislava Ministerial Declaration.
The current work of the Process builds upon the results and achievements of previous actions. Read more about the projects implemented under the Prague Process umbrella here.
This policy brief considers the displacement and forced migration inside and outside Ukraine’s international border, the dynamics of these movements, the individuals’ aspirations and the possible future developments in migration trends while reassessing scenarios developed in 2022.
This document has been created following the discussions among - and inputs from - participants of the Prague Process Workshop held in Tbilisi in October 2023, highlighting best practices, key success factors and stumbling blocks to digitalising the various aspects of the migration management cycle, as well as providing some recommendations for next steps. The Workshop focused on the increased role of digitalisation, and how this can be deployed to assist in migration management.
The overarching expectation is that digitalisation will yield substantial benefits in the Prague Process region, streamlining processes for officials and improving the overall experience for migrants. From a migrant's perspective, a single, comprehensive app could serve as a portal to access various services, encompassing applications, healthcare, education, social security, and identification. Furthermore, establishing centralised databases accessible to all government departments is recommended. This should be done while addressing privacy concerns through appropriate authorisations to facilitate data sharing and better support governments, ultimately enhancing the experiences of migrants through application processes. Internal interoperability among national government departments and public authorities is deemed crucial, and this interoperability should be extended to other countries to ensure trans-national compatibility.
In line with this, adopting a one-stop-shop approach for migrants and migration management is encouraged, based on best practices from the region. Training, effective communication around the roll out of new systems and feedback mechanisms are also identified as essential elements for successful system implementation and user engagement.
Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have absorbed hundreds of thousands of migrants who left Russia in the two years since its invasion of Ukraine. These Russians, who call themselves “relokanty”, have transformed national economies and urban spaces. Inflows of talent and capital have also delivered societal challenges. These range from increased inflation to renewed memories of the negative impacts of Russian and Soviet colonization, as well as fears that these relokanty might constitute a new vehicle for Russian influence.