The Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, CCME, is an ecumenical agency working on migration and integration, asylum and refugees as well as anti-racism and anti-discrimination in Europe. CCME cooperates closely with the World Council of Churches (as an International Ecumenical Agency in working relations with the WCC) and the Conference of European Churches (as associated member). CCME informs its members on relevant European developments, particularly with regard to the European Union and the Council of Europe in the fields of migration and asylum as well as anti-racism and coordiantes churches' activities in these fields on the European level. CCME aims to lobby for migrants', refugees', and minority ethnic people's concerns with European institutions, promoting integration and anti-discrimination.

Since the Amsterdam Treaty came into force in the European Union, the EU has competence on a wide range of issues related to refugees' and migrants' concerns. Article 13 of this Treaty stipulates that the EU is also to take measures against discrimination on various grounds, including racism. On this basis new legislation is drafted in the EU which is not only affecting persons residing in EU member states, but also in neighbouring countries and, indeed, globally. On this background, lobbying with European institutions at the level of the EU but also at the Council of Europe has gained importance.

CCME participates actively in the NGO Platform on Migration and Asylum in Brussels to coordinate NGO activities at EU level, which is hosted by the UNHCR and brings together around 20 NGOs.

CCME works in close cooperation with Catholic and other Christian organisations(1) in Brussels. Jointly with six other Christian organisations, comments were published on the draft directive on Family Reunification April and November 2000, and end of May 2001 on the European Commission's Communications on Immigration and Asylum, respectively. These communications were issued by the European Commission to start a debate particularly on the European Immigration Policy. A compilation of all the joint comments and background information about the organisations is presently under preparation in the CCME office.

CCME represents CEC at the bi-annual meetings of ECRE, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. CCME cooperates closely with ECRE with regard to asylum and refugee issues in Brussels.

As a member of the Round Table of European organisations within the European Network against Racism ENAR, CCME participates regularly in the quarterly meetings. In 2001, CCME participated in the PEER project (Paths for Empowerment of European people to act against Racism) of ENAR, which was closed with a final consultation in March 2002. CCME participated in the meetings organised by the European Commission on the Action Programme to Combat Discrimination in October 2000 and 2001.

CCME is a board member of the European Coordination for Foreigners' Right to Family Life and participated in the assembly of the Coordination. This coordination continued the lobbying on the right to family reunification with a petition. A statement was issued on the release of the third amended draft proposal issued by the European Commission in spring 2002. The Coordination rejected the proposal has it does no longer improve the right to family reunification for third country nationals.

CCME participates in the work of the Platform for Information and Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants PICUM, particularly in the Policy Advisory Group as well as with staff cooperation.

CCME was represented by two persons on the board of the Migration Policy Group MPG. CCME members participated in migration policy dialogue organised by MPG on the basis of the Amsterdam Proposal in the years 2000 and 2001.

CCME holds official observer status at the Migration Committee of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers (CDMG) and has consultative status with the Council of Europe. In May 2001, the newsletter Social Cohesion of the Council of Europe carried an article on CCME's concerns. CCME participated in the meetings of the CDMG in December 2000, June 2001 and April 2002 in Strasbourg as well as in the expert committee on managing migration flows in 2001 and 2002. CCME attended the Council of Europe Conference on "Irregular Migration in the Mediterranean and the Dignity of Migrants" in October 2001 in Athens as well as the recent Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Migration in September 2002 in Helsinki.

The three CCME Working Groups are covering the following fields:

1. Monitoring European Migration and Asylum Policies

2. Churches' work with migrants, refugees and displaced persons

3. Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination

Working Group 1 met five times, in Stuttgart/Germany, Prague/Czech Republic, Berlin/Germany, Athens/Greece and Drakenburgh/Netherlands. Working Group 1 has elaborated a position paper on trends in current migration and asylum policies as well as regularly advised the CCME secretariat between meetings on positions which were incorporated in the comments of the Christian organisations.

Working Group 2 also met five times, in Hamburg/Germany, Bucharest/Romania, Santa Severa/Italy, El Escorial/Spain and Drakenburgh/Netherlands. The working group exchanged information on churches actions with regard to irregular migrants and has produced a separate report on this issue., which the ExCom recommends to be published after the CCME Assembly 2002.

The joint meeting of the two working groups was highly appreciated by all member as it was a chance to exchange views.

Working Group 3 met six times, twice in London/U.K., twice in Utrecht/Netherlands once in Frankfurt a.M./Germany and once during the Round Table Consultation on Racial Violence in Ede/Netherlands.

Particularly with Working Group 3, CCME participated in the preparations for and in the European Conference against Racism "All Different - all Equal" in October 2000 and the World Conference against Racism in September 2001 in Durban, South Africa. This was done jointly with the Conference of European Churches and the WCC.

On the initiative of Working Group 3, CCME organised in cooperation with CEC and the Uniting Churches in the Netherlands a Round Table Consultation on "Racial Violence" in Ede/Netherlands from 19-22 September 2002. Recommendations elaborated during this consultation will be available for the CCME Assembly, a report will be circulated later this year as well.

Jointly with CEC, CCME organised a consultation on Roma in Central Europe under the theme: "Living in Community - towards equal opportunities and overcoming discrimination. The situation of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe". This conference was held from 2-6 May 2001 in Bratislava, Slovakia and attended by more than 70 participants, two third of the participants from Central and Eastern Europe. It received wide attention by the government and the media in Slovakia. The recommendations of this conference can be found on the CEC website.

CCME participated in the meeting of the Amman process, which facilitates exchange of experience and concerns among the churches of Southern Europe with the Middle East Council of Churches, in January 2001 in Beirut.

23-25 May 2002, CCME organised the meeting of the Amman Process in Brussels. During the meeting in Brussels, the representatives of Churches from Southern Europe and the Middle East met and discussed with high-ranking officials from the European institutions on migration questions and the cooperation between the EU and the Middle East. Participants also elaborated ideas how Churches could respond to the issue of migration in the Mediterranean. The recommendations of this meeting are available on the CEC website, a full report on the sessions with officials of the European institutions will soon be available as well.

The Amman Process is an important interregional exchange on migration and refugees. Churches in the region are particularly concerned about the fate of boat people and the involvement of criminal organisations in smuggling and trafficking.

As we have stressed this topic also at the level of the Council of Europe's Migration Committee, we were invited to participate in an expert group preparing a Council of Europe Conference on Irregular Migration and the Dignity of Migrants - co-operation in the Mediterranean. This conference was held 3-4 October 2001 in Athens. An additional meeting on this topic was organised by the Committee on Refugees and Migrants of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Paris 13-14 December 2001, in which CCME participated as well. A joint Round Table on Irregular Migration was organised by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Refugees, Migration and Demography and the European Parliament's Committee on Citizens Freedoms and Rights on 3 October 2002, in which CCME participated on a panel.

Migrant Churches in Europe was the topic of a consultation organised by CCME in cooperation with the Protestant Church in Germany, EKD, from 4-7 October 2001 in Hamburg/Germany. This exchange of the experience of migrant churches in European countries is very valuable and certainly requires further attention. The conference report is available in the CCME secretariat. CCME, with assistance of the Uniting Churches in the Netherlands, was able to send a delegate to the 2^nd International Conference on Multicultural Ministries in Pattaya, Thailand in May 2002. Irene Pluim, who also participated in the consultation in Germany, wrote a report which is available on request.

Contacts have been established with a pastor serving Philippino migrants in Europe. CCME had been invited to address a meeting of Philippino migrants in Europe of the Migrante Network in September 2001.

CCME, jointly with the International Catholic Migration Commission, issued a background information on "The Consequences of EU Enlargement on Migration and Asylum Policies in Central and Eastern Europe taking the examples of the Czech Republic and Poland", written by Robert Scheunpflug and Lynette Tan in 2000. Initial contacts were already in the year 2000 established with churches in the Czech Republic and Poland and this was followed up, e.g. during a seminar on enlargement at the German Protestant Academy Mülheim/Ruhr in September and during a visit to the Czech Republic in October 2000. In October 2001, CCME participated in a consultation on the effects of EU Migration and Asylum Policies in the Czech Republic of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, Germany. In February 2002, the ExCom had its meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, and held discussions with ecumenical partners and a representative of the Ministry of Interior.

For several years now, Protestant churches from Germany, France and Italy have organized annual conferences on asylum in Europe. While not among the organizers, CCME was part of the organization through its members in Germany, Italy and France in previous years. The Asylum Conference took place in Santa Severa/Italy in 2000 and in Slovakia in 2001. The 5^th European Asylum Conference 2002 took place in Brussels and CCME was coordinating the planning and implementation of the conference, which took place parallel to the meeting of the Amman process in Brussels. Experts on the question of asylum legislation from several European churches (mainly the Protestant Churches from Germany and France) gathered to discuss recent developments in the EU legislation on asylum.

Following the conclusions of the EU Tampere Special Summit on Migration and Asylum in October 1999, the European Union adopted in spring 2000 a Scoreboard on policy requirements and developments for the next four years. With the Amsterdam Treaty of the EU, these areas fall under the competence of the EU and require a set of new legislation, which has been and will be drafted according to this plan. The follow up and advocacy concerning the implementation of the scoreboard was a continuing element of the work of CCME throughout the period 1999-2002.

The first proposal in the context of the scoreboard had been a draft directive on the right to family reunification. CCME, jointly with ICMC, Caritas Europe and the Migration Working Group of COMECE issued a position paper on this proposal in March 2000. Furthermore, CCME has been active in discussion with the EU Commission, the European Parliament's Committee and the EU Council's Strategic Commission. After the Parliament adopted its report, the Commission amended the proposal, and the Christian group updated the position paper in November 2000. CCME and COMECE wrote to Commissioner Vitorino to raise concern about the way negotiations were going in May 2001. However, the Council was not able to reach agreement on this directive in 2001 and the Laeken summit in December 2001 asked the European Commission to bring forward a new proposal on the basis of agreement reached so far by the end of April 2002. The third amended proposal was subsequently published by the Commission in spring this year, a comment by Christian organizations is under preparation.

This first joint reaction of different Christian organisations, which are active in the field of migration, refugees and asylum, to the legislative process of the EU in 2000 had set a good example. Today it is a well-established and common practice that these Christian organisation issue joint comments on EU legislation proposals and follow the process in a joint effort. The joint statements of the "Christian group" are nowadays widely acknowledged in the EU institutions and the NGO community.

CCME participated in a seminar organised by the French Presidency as well as in the pre-consultations of the Commission on a planned directive on the status of long-term resident third country nationals, which was published in spring 2001. The group of Christian organisations issued comments on this proposal in November 2001. The European Parliament adopted its report in spring 2002. Negotiations in the Council do not appear to have made a lot of progress. A proposal regulating entry and residence of third country nationals for the purpose of employment, and a proposal for an open coordination mechanism for a European immigration policy are still under discussion.

A proposal regulating entry and residence of third country nationals for the purpose of employment, and a proposal for an open coordination mechanism for a European immigration policy are still under discussion. Since end of 2001, beginning of 2002, CCME has jointly with other organizations been part of consultations leading to a draft directive for entry and residence of third country nationals for the purpose of study, training and voluntary service, which is expected to be issued in October 2002.

In October 2001, the Belgian Presidency held a seminar on a European migration policy, in which CCME participated as observer. This conference indicated that a number of EU member states indeed had migration as a priority, but that the European approach is far from being achieved.

CCME had in 2000 also commented on a proposal for a directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin. This directive was adopted in June 2000 in a record time for European institutions. This will now have to be transferred into national legislation. It is a very important tool to counter racism and discrimination in European societies.

The follow-up to and monitoring of the implementation of this new legislation by NGOs is coordinated by the European Network Against Racism ENAR.

CCME in 2000 hosted two informal meetings with EU Commission staff on the review of the Dublin Convention and on the EU Commission's communication on asylum (prior to the finalisation). In summer 2000, the group of Christian organisations issued again a common position paper with regard to a new instrument replacing the Dublin Convention. The proposal for a new regulation for "determining the state responsible to examine an asylum application" however was not considerably different to the Dublin Convention, and during the negotiations some of the improvements seem to have disappeared again as well. Adoption of this regulation is expected this year under the Danish Presidency of the EU.

Since 1999, the EU Council adopted the establishment of a European Refugee Fund, the directive for Temporary Protection in the case of mass influx of refugees (May 2001), the directive on reception conditions of asylum seekers (April 2002). The Eurodac Regulation had been agreed already in 2000.

The proposals for minimum standards of asylum procedures of 2000 has been modified in an amended version this summer. The draft directive on a common refugee definition and subsidiary protection was published in September 2001, the group of Christian organizations issued comments in June 2002 and has been actively lobbying the European Parliament prior to the adoption of the Parliamentary opinion in October 2002. Negotiations in the Council are still controversial particularly with regard to complementary protection.

Since the criminal attacks in the US of 11 September 2001, the EU Council focus was of course shifted to security concerns. A common definition of terrorism, a European arrest warrant, increased police cooperation were on the agenda and dealt with as a matter of priority in the Council on Justice and Home Affairs.

As a consequence also, agreements have been reached on the operational implementation of the EURODAC system for fingerprints of asylum seekers in the EU, a uniform Schengen visa and uniform visa applications.

In November, the European Commission published a Communication on illegal immigration, which was applauded by the European Council at Laeken, Belgium, in December. This is an important field, as increasingly migrant and refugee counselling and advice centres are facing problems relating to irregular migration. The group of Christian organisations has issued comments on this communication as well as on the Action Programme of the Spanish Presidency in May 2002.

On the framework decision on facilitating illegal entry and residence political agreement had been reached in September 2001, but the final text is not yet approved. NGOs, including CCME, have criticised that protection for victims of smuggling and trafficking is not a compulsory component in this decision, as is recommended by the Protocol on Trafficking and Smuggling in Human Beings to the International Convention against Organised Crime of December 2000 (Palermo Protocol). It is however, an optional clause, where lobbying is needed at national levels.

The European Commission has a consequence drafted a proposal on short-term permits for victims of trafficking and smuggling, which was published in February 2002. Christian organisations have jointly commented this proposal in spring 2002.

CCME in the context of the Christian cooperation on migration and asylum issues has been contributing to the debate on reactions to the EU Green book "on a community return policy on illegal residents". CCME´ s General Secretary addressed a hearing on the issue of "a community return policy on illegal residents", which the EU Commission organised in July 2002.

In 2001, a directive has been adopted by the Council on Carrier Sanctions. The transport industry in co-operation with the European Commission subsequently organised a Round Table on Carrier Sanctions, to which NGOs were invited to speak about humanitarian concerns. CCME on behalf of Christian organisations, ECRE, amnesty international participated in a panel moderated by a representative of UNHCR.

Following this event, four expert working groups were established to continue the discussions. CCME participated in one of these working groups. The results shall be presented in a second round table towards the end of this year.

One of the major concerns over the entire period 1999-2002 has been the issue of trafficking in human beings and the plight of irregular migrants. While the phenomenon is nowadays found all over Europe, one of the main area remains the Mediterranean region.

The framework decision on combating trafficking in human beings has been finally adopted in July 2002, however, in this proposal, too, the protection of victims remains optional.

In an attempt to add a more concrete European dimension to the ongoing work of CCME and its members on the issue of trafficking in human beings, CCME has in cooperation with Caritas Europa developed the concept of the Network "Christian Action and Networking against Trafficking in Women". If funding can be provided by EU and Church sources, the project will start in November 2002. CCME has in cooperation with Caritas Europa submitted a contribution to the International Conference on "Preventing and combating Trafficking in Human Beings", which the International Organisation on Migration and the EU Commission organised from 18th to 20th September in Brussels.

The implementation group of the agreement of cooperation between CCME, CEC and WCC was set up after signing the agreement in January 2000. Since then the implementation group with representatives of all three organisations met approximately twice per year to follow the implementation and improve the cooperation. In October 2001, the terms of reference for the agreed evaluation were decided and subsequently Mr. Klaus Wilkens was asked to undertake the evaluation early in 2002. The evaluation report is available to CCME and CEC members. The implementation group formulated recommendations, which were adopted at the CEC Central Committee in Morges, Switzerland beginning of June 2002. CCME's General Assembly will have to discuss and decide on these recommendations.

The Executive Committee of CCME is responsible for CCME activities and carrying out the work programme between the assemblies. The ExCom met once in 1999 after the assembly and then twice a year, alternately in Geneva and Brussels, with the notable exception of the meeting in Prague, Czech Republic in February 2002. The meeting in Prague facilitated exchange with partners on the situation in the Czech Republic, discussions took place with ecumenical partners and a representative of the Ministry of Interior on the development of migration and asylum legislation in conformity with EU standards.

WCC and CEC are represented in the Executive Committee of CCME and CCME participated in the WCC Central Committee meeting January/February 2001 in Potsdam/Germany as well as the CEC Central Committee meetings in Iasi/Romania 1999, Morges/Switzerland June 2002. CCME participated also in the annual meetings of the Church and Society Commission of CEC.

CCME proposed a resolution to the CEC Central Committee meeting in Iasi in October 2000 to work in the field of racism with a focus on Roma and to call on the churches to dedicate time to meet with and inform about Roma. This lead to the common preparation of the consultation in Bratislava in May 2001.

The Global Ecumenical Network on Uprooted People organised by the WCC met in September 2000, 2001 and 2002. This is an extremely important meeting facilitating exchange on the work on the global level.

CCME has been invited to participate in the Immigration and Refugee Programme Committee of the Church World Service USA and the General Secretary participated in the Committee meeting as well as the annual conference in August 2002.

CCME participated in the organisation of the Pan European Round Table on Social Diaconia of CEC and Eurodiaconia held in Järvenpää, Finland in September 2001. Migration was prominent on the agenda, and this cooperation is important for the churches work on migration and with refugees. Since last year, the ecumenical organisations in Brussels, Church and Society Commission of CEC, CCME, APRODEV(2) and Eurodiaconia meet regularly to exchange priorities of the ongoing work and formulate common responses, e.g. on the White Paper on Governance of the European Commission (spring 2002) or on the Convention on the Future of Europe.

The Church and Society Commission of CEC and COMECE have this year embarked on monitoring the Convention on the Future of Europe. CCME has participated in a number of meetings, and is representing churches in the Convention Contact Group on Human Rights. A major concern of the group of Christian organisations for the Convention is to improve the competences of the EU institutions on migration and asylum, particularly through the introduction of majority voting in the Council on migration and asylum issues in a future treaty. The present obligation to find an unanimous vote has prevented progress particularly in the migration field. This is expressed in a common letter of Christian organisations to the Justice and Home Affairs Working Group of the Convention as well as in the submissions made by the Conference of European Churches and COMECE..

On request of the North South Working Group of the Church and Society Commission, CCME drafted a paper on Globalisation and Migration, which was incorporated into a CEC paper on globalisation for the European consultation on globalisation in June 2002. Pursuing this issue further, CCME has drafted a project proposal for the Church and Society Commission and APRODEV to deepen the understanding of migration and development, which was adopted by the Church and Society Commission Executive in September 2002.

The CCME Secretariat informs members twice a year on ongoing work and priorities. In addition, the CEC quarterly publication Monitor is now regularly reporting about CCME activities and CEC has made available space on its website for CCME items.

In the period 1999-2002 the General Secretary visited member churches and organisations in Germany, U.K., Netherlands, Czech Republic, Norway, Austria, Sweden and Finland.

A number of visiting groups to Brussels should be mentioned, as this is an important aspect of the work: There have been visiting groups from the Nordic Ecumenical Council, a delegation from the Church of Finland, the meeting of the migration and asylum committee of the Protestant Church in Germany, to mention just a few. This is a valuable exchange and helps to communicate easier.

CCME has two permanent staff members, a General Secretary and an Administrative Assistant. In the past three years, CCME had stagiaires to work with CCME on a short-time, voluntary basis, which has been extremely useful on defined projects. Since 2001, the Church of Baden/Germany has delegated a part-time staff person to work with CCME.

Finally, the involvement of the members of the Executive Committee as well as participants in the working groups, who represent CCME at various occasions and conferences, should be gratefully acknowledged. Member churches and organisations of CCME have contributed to the work of CCME far more than can be expressed in the financial report, they have dedicated additional funding for projects and publications, meetings and consultations, they have provided advice and guidance and put in an enormous amount of time and effort.

We sincerely hope and pray that our joint effort will help to make visible the commitment of churches in Europe to create welcoming and inclusive societies and communities with migrants, refugees, displaced persons and minority ethnic people.

October 2002

(1)Caritas Europa, COMECE Secretariat, International Catholic Migration Commission ICMC, Jesuit Refugee Service Europe, Justice and Peace Commissions, Quaker Council on European Affairs.
(2) Association of World Council of Churches-related development agencies in Europe.