Civil Society and the Consultative Forum

Civil society organisations play an important role in the debate on and implementation of asylum policy. Their specific expertise and knowledge is synergetic and is often of added-value to the Agency’s work. The EUAA is committed to maintaining a close dialogue with relevant civil society organisations and competent bodies active in the field of asylum and reception.
 

The Consultative Forum 

The Consultative Forum is the Agency’s main channel for cooperation with civil society. Cooperation between the Agency and civil society is defined in Article 50 of the EUAA Regulation, which calls upon the Agency to maintain a close dialogue with relevant civil society organisations and competent bodies and to set up a Consultative Forum to that purpose as mechanism for the exchange of information and the sharing of knowledge. 

The Consultative Forum was initially established in 2011 as part of the European Asylum Support Office and has subsequently been re-constituted under the EUAA in a revised format and with a reinforced mandate. 

Management Board Decision No 111 establishes the Consultative Forum under the EUAA and sets out the rules regarding its composition and conditions for transmitting information thereto. The Management Board Decision will, in due time, be complemented by the working methods, which are to be established by the Consultative Forum itself.

Who can become a member of the EUAA Consultative Forum?  

In accordance with the EUAA Regulation and the MB Decision, the Consultative Forum is open for participation by relevant civil society organisations and competent bodies operating in the field of asylum policy at local, regional, national, Union or international level – provided they meet the conditions as set out in Annex 1 of MB Decision No 111.

Following an open call for expressions of interest, the below organisations are currently members of the EUAA Consultative Forum. The Fundamental Rights Agency, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, and UNHCR are also members of the Consultative Forum, having accepted the invitation, in accordance with the EUAA Regulation and the MB Decision.

Download the list of the EUAA Consultative Forum members

 

How to become a member of the EUAA Consultative Forum?

The call for expressions of interest from relevant civil society organisations and bodies to become members of the EUAA Consultative Forum remains open indefinitely. Should you be interested to join the Consultative Forum, here is what you should do: 
 

 


Contact

For any queries, please contact: consultative-forum@euaa.europa.eu

 

 

Consultations

An important method for communicating with civil society takes place on the basis of electronic consultations. The Consultative Forum members are consulted on many of the EUAA's key documents. Electronic consultations are open to all members of the Consultative Forum and are used as much as possible as they ensure the broadest possible outreach, facilitating organisations to contribute in a cost-effective manner. Additionally, some consultations may also, for various reasons, be restricted to selected CF members. In those cases, selection is carried out on the basis of the following set of selection criteria:

  • Relevance – of the organisation’s participation vis-à-vis the theme(s) discussed by the Consultative Forum.
  • Knowledge and Expertise – degree of knowledge and expertise in the area(s) being dealt with by the Consultative Forum.
  • Availability – of the organisation to get involved in the work of the Consultative Forum.
  • Involvement at national and EU level – degree of involvement of the organisation in the relevant area(s) at national and EU level (European orientation).
  • Affiliation – of the organisation in relevant networks/groups.
  • Relationship – of the organisation with EUAA and/or involvement in EU Practical cooperation measures/training/academic activities in the field of asylum.

 

Overview of planned consultations with civil society in 2023:
 

Consultation on: Deadline Status
Call for Civil Society Input to the Asylum Report 2023 3 February 2023 Closed
Consultation on the Training Module Access to the asylum procedure 1 March 2023 Closed
Call for feedback on 2022 Annual General Report Q3  

 

Input from Civil Society to the Asylum Report 2023

  1. Accem 
  2. Arca di Noè Società Cooperativa Sociale 
  3. Association for Legal Intervention (Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej) 
  4. AsyLex
  5. Asylos
  6. Centro Astalli - ODV
  7. Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado -CEAR (Spanish Commission for Refugees)
  8. Convive - Fundación Cepaim 
  9. Danish Refugee Council - DRC
  10. Deutscher Anwaltverein - DAV
  11. DRC Greece
  12. European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)
  13. Forum Réfugiés Cosi
  14. Greek Council for Refugees 
  15. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
  16. Hungarian Helsinki Committee
  17. I Have Rights
  18. Jesuit Refugee Service Luxembourg
  19. Jesuit Refugee Service Serbia
  20. Joint submission by Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS), Comitato per la promozione e protezione dei diritti umani, Associazione Don Bosco 2000, Salesiani per il Sociale, Forum per cambiare l’ordine delle cose
  21. L'Auberge des Migrants - Human Rights Observers
  22. Lithuanian Red Cross society
  23. Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Fundamental and Human Rights
  24. Migrant Integration Center - Brasov
  25. Migrant Offshore Aid Station - MOAS
  26. Multiculturalism and Migration Observatory - Cracow University of Economics
  27. Network for Children’s Rights
  28. Norwegian Organisation for Asylum Seekers (NOAS)
  29. Organisation for Aid to Refugees - OPU
  30. Organisation Intersex International Europe - OII Europe
  31. Österreichischer Rechtsanwaltskammertag - ÖRAK
  32. Progestion
  33. Servicio Jesuita a Migrantes - España (SJM)
  34. Slovak Humanitarian Council
  35. Stichting Gave
  36. Stichting Nidos
  37. Swiss Refugee Council - OSAR
  38. The Rule of Law Institute
Consultative Forum Activities

EUAA Consultative Forum activities in 2022

2022 will mostly be a transitional year for the Consultative Forum. The EUAA Regulation foresees changes to the CF; the Forum will become independent from the Agency and its role will be reinforced to advise the Executive Director and the Management Board on asylum-related matters. The main priority this year will therefore be the establishment and operationalisation of the revised CF under the EUAA.

Until the new Forum with revised governance structure is in place, the Agency will continue to organise and implement various CF meetings and activities, including workshops, information webinars and consultations.  

The visual below provides a tentative overview of the planned CF meetings and activities for 2022 in each quarter:  

Consultative forum 2022

 
In addition, CF members will of course continue to be consulted on other key Agency documents when relevant.

We invite you to watch this space for more information on upcoming Consultative Forum events.  

1st EUAA Plenary Meeting

On 10th November, the EUAA Consultative Forum organised its 1st Plenary Meeting in Malta. This plenary meeting provided an opportunity for the new members of the EUAA Consultative Forum to meet, to exchange initial ideas on the Forum’s working methods and to vote for and elect the CF Chairperson ad interim.   This year’s meeting was exclusively open to the newly appointed Consultative Forum members with more than 70 members attending the event.  During the first part of the meeting, the members were presented with detailed information about the work of the Agency and had the opportunity to share opinions and thoughts on the current situation of asylum in the EU with the Agency’s Heads of Centres during the question-and-answer session.

The meeting was opened by Ms Nina Gregori, Executive Director of the Agency, who during her introductory remarks welcomed the new Members and highlighted the importance of having established the new EUAA Consultative Forum.  Ms Gregori also underlined and welcomed the diversity of the Forum Members which would undoubtedly add value to the Agency’s work.

During the final segment of the morning, the Consultative Forum elected its first Chair ad interim, Dr. Sarah Adeyinka, who is the founder of the NGO CoCreate.  Dr Adeyinka will now guide the Forum to  produce its working methods, which, as per the Regulation, need to be established by the Forum itself.  

The afternoon programme was dedicated to discussions about the development of the Forum’s working methods.  The members were divided into small groups, each group focused on key elements for the working methods, such as governance, planning and implementation of CF activities including decision-making, communication channels and tools, etc.  This session was expertly moderated by an external contractor, Visuality, and all the participants had the opportunity to take an active part in all the elements discussed.  

Meeting documents:

Webinar ‘Who is who’ in International protection, 25th May 2022

On the 25th of May, the Consultative Forum in collaboration with colleagues from the Information and Analysis Sector organised a webinar on the ‘Who is who in International Protection’ mapping project.  The webinar, which was followed by around 30 civil society organisations,  provided a live demonstration of the ‘Who is who’ project developed by the EUAA, which maps all the different stakeholders and their role in asylum and reception at European, national and local levels. The overall project will feed into a publicly available overview of all relevant actors with the following two main outputs i) a one-time publication listing and describing all stakeholders grouped per thematic activity, and ii) an online available database including an overview of all stakeholders which will be regularly updated. 

During the webinar, participants were introduced to the civil society component of the Who is Who project. Under this component, the aim is to map relevant civil society organisations active in the field of asylum. Participants were presented with the draft survey that will be used for this mapping.  The next steps of the project were also discussed with the participants and valuable feedback was collected from respective civil society organisations.  On 1st June,  an invitation was shared inviting interested civil society organisations with expertise in the area of asylum and migration to participate in the information collection exercise by filling out the following survey. The plan is to have the civil society section ready by the first quarter in 2023.  

Find more information on the ‘Who is who’ project.

Meeting documents:

For any questions please write to: Consultative-Forum@euaa.europa.eu