Community statistics on migration and international protection

The development of Community policies and legislation on migration and asylum has highlighted the need for comprehensive and comparable European statistics on a range of migration-related issues. The further development, implementation and monitoring of common immigration and asylum systems implies a need for much better statistical information than is currently available. The Thessaloniki European Council of 20 June 2003 concluded that more effective mechanisms were needed for the collection and analysis of information on migration and asylum in the European Union.

The European Parliament in its resolution of 6 November 2003 noted that legislation was required to ensure the production of comprehensive statistics necessary for the development of fair and effective Community policies on migration.