3.13.3.1. Developing and updating integration strategies

Although in 2023 many initiatives continued to be targeted at beneficiaries of temporary protection (see Box 1), some integration strategies were also put in place or further developed for beneficiaries of international protection. 

In Luxembourg, the new law on intercultural living entered into force in January 2024. The notion of ‘intercultural living’ replaced the term ‘integration’ to broaden the objectives and the scope of people at whom the policy is aimed (applicants, beneficiaries of international protection, residents in the country and cross-border workers). Intercultural living (Biergerpakt) refers to the process by which people living in Luxembourg live, work and decide together based on the principles of mutual respect, tolerance, solidarity and social cohesion, with the aim of developing an intercultural society.883 A national plan, communal and citizen’s pacts, and a municipal commission would be created for its effective implementation.884  

The new Spanish Strategic Framework for citizenship and inclusion and against racism and xenophobia was published for the period of 2023-2027. It has a specific section on support to applicants and beneficiaries of international protection.885  

Launched in 2022, the programme Accompagnement global et individualisé des réfugiés (AGIR) continued in France in 2023 by including 26 additional departments. The programme proposes an individualised and comprehensive maximum 24-month integration pathway to beneficiaries of international protection and forms one of the priorities of France’s integration policy which was defined in 2022.886 The completion of the deployment of the AGIR programme to all hexagonal departments is targeted for the second quarter of 2024.887  

In Slovenia, an integration strategy was adopted for foreigners who are not EU citizens. The strategy defines knowledge of the Slovenian language as a pre-condition for successful integration and suggests measures for the efficient implementation of language courses.888  

A public consultation was launched on the second integration policy and national action plan for the upcoming 5 years in Malta.889  

In Italy, a new call for 750 grants under the project Percorsi 4 was launched in December 2023, with applications to be received during the first semester of 2024. The General Directorate for Immigration and Integration Policies’ project is implemented by Anpal Servizi Spa and it is available for initiatives related to integration pathways for unaccompanied minors, including the provision of support services for skills development f to participate successfully in work and society.890  

In January 2024, a new Department of Social Integration was established in the Polish Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy. The department is responsible for defining the direction of activities and implementing tasks in the field of integration of foreigners, preparing standards in this area and monitoring the implemented solutions.

In addition, the ministry continued to work on increasing the number of Integration Centres for Foreigners. A call was announced for Voivodeship Marshals to create a network of Integration Centres for Foreigners based on the one-stop shop model. Ultimately, a network of 49 centres is to be established in Poland by 2025. The first six centres were opened in two Voivodeships (Wielokopolskie and Opolskie) in March 2022, as part of the ministry’s cooperation with regional partners and the implementation of the integration component of an AMIF project, "Building structures for the integration of foreigners in Poland - Stage II – Piloting of Foreigners’ Integration Centres”. The task of the centres is to provide comprehensive integration assistance to foreigners residing in a given region, including providing information on social assistance benefits, family benefits, vacancies in the labour market, education, as well as the implementation of integration activities, such as Polish as a foreign language courses and adaptation courses.

To contribute to the objectives of the UNHCR Global Compact on Refugees, a memorandum on the social and economic integration of refugees in Italy and the protection of their fundamental rights was signed by the National Council of Notaries and UNCHR. The agreement aims to provide advisory services in various administrative areas, the dissemination of multilingual information material on areas of competences for Italian notaries and to carry out joint communication initiatives.891  

Following the temporary suspension of the integration support for beneficiaries of international protection and temporary protection (Helios) project in Greece, the extension of the project and the resumption of its services until the end June 2024 was announced in January 2024.892