The Basque Government will participate in the Urban Agenda Partnership for the Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees

• Through its Ministry of Equality, Justice and Social Policies
• Initiative of the European Commission with experts at local, subnational, national and European level for the integration of migrant persons
• It will share and exchange knowledge and experiences

 Amsterdam / Vitoria-Gasteiz, 21 12 2023

The Basque Government Ministry of Equality, Justice and Social Policies will participate in the working group of the Urban Agenda Partnership for the Inclusion of Migrants & Refugees, an initiative of the European Commission created in 2016 with experts who work at local, subnational, national and European level on the integration of migrant persons and NGOs with specialised knowledge in the matter.

 The group will meet in February of next year in Brussels. The aim of the Partnership is to achieved improved alignment when developing policies, exchanging knowledge, applying policies in the field and enabling cities, regions and other interested parties to make better use of existing European Union funds and financial instruments for the inclusion of migrants and refugees. The actions taken by the Partnership are based on the Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027 of the European Commission.

 In August this year, all EU regions received an invitation to state their interest in joining the Partnership. The Basque Country submitted its application which has now been accepted. The acceptance was conveyed to the Ministry headed by Minister Nerea Melgosa by the European Commission and its Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs and the city of Amsterdam (coordinator of the Partnership).

The members of the Association are, for the time being, the states of: Denmark, Greece, Italy and Portugal; the municipalities of: Amsterdam (Coordinators), Athens, Barcelona, Berlin and Helsinki; the organisations: Eurocities and URBACT; other references: Migration Policy group; the European institutions: European Commission (DG Home, DG REGIO, DG EMPL, JRC), Council of Europe, Development Bank (CEB), Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), European Committee of the Regions, European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

 The Basque Government is joined by another 15 members for the 2024-2027 period. Niels Tubbing, Mark Boekwijt and Angeliki Petrits, coordinators of the partnership, have informed the applicant Subnational Governments of their approval regarding their participation. Niels Tubbing is the principal advisor to the Mayor of Amsterdam and  Deputy Mayor on European and International Social Affairs.

 The commitment of each member of the Partnership is an important factor in achieving the successful execution of an impactful programme, particularly given the relatively new multilevel cooperation format. 

The Association will serve as a platform for knowledge exchange with concrete and operational results such as, for example, documents on best practices and other similar results. The members will make use of the specialised knowledge available in their organisations to provide concrete contributions and knowledge helping to achieve operational results for the actions of the Partnership.