July 9, 2025

The following is a press release:

The Canary Islands have become one of busiest migration routes to the EU. Members of the CoR's Commission for Citizenship, Governance, Institutional and External Affairs (CIVEX) met in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 7-8 July to learn about the regional government's best practises and to discuss how the EU and national governments could provide more support to local and regional authorities that often lack resources when facing increasing migration flows. Members also visited two reception facilities for migrant minors in Santa Cruz, debated opinions on returns and the internal security strategy and adopted a draft opinion on EU-Switzerland relations in Monday's external CIVEX meeting.

The meeting was followed by a conference on Tuesday dedicated to the reception of unaccompanied migrant minors and providing opportunities in the countries of origin. The Canary Islands' regional administration presented its efforts to accommodate unaccompanied migrant minors and support their personal development. Beyond fulfilling essential needs, the care system in Canary Islands aims to promote the well-being and social integration of minors by providing specialised support services, including psychological assistance, cultural mediation and language training through Individualised Education Plans tailored for each migrant. This experience is among the best practices examined in a recent CIVEX-commissioned study.

The discussions highlighted that lack of funding and resources remains the principal challenge for regions and cities across the EU. In Canary Islands, expenditures on emergency reception facilities have soared, from EUR 54.8 million in 2022 to EUR 143.6 million in 2024. This financial strain diverts resources from essential public services like healthcare and education and risks exacerbating xenophobia.

Following the recommendations of the study, the speakers stressed that national authorities should provide more technical support on the functioning of the EU funds, their requirements and application and implementation processes that are not always straightforward. Alongside emergency funds, local and regional authorities need structural funding to act on a long-term basis and to improve preparedness for the arrival of sudden migration flows. Local and regional leaders have recalled that these issues should be addressed in the EU's next multiannual budget.

The second part of the conference focused on policies and strategies aimed at creating sustainable opportunities in countries of origin through decentralised development cooperation initiatives, addressing the root causes of migration, reducing migration pressures and facilitating returns.

CIVEX commission's First Vice-Chair Carolina Darias San Sebastian (ES/PES), Mayor of Las Palmas, said: “The CIVEX Commission meeting in the Canary Islands is a key opportunity for its members to understand, first hand, the complexity of hosting unaccompanied migrant minors in the Canary Islands, a territory that is a striking example of the magnitude of this challenge. Local and regional authorities are on the front lines of the response, but they need sufficient resources and data to act effectively.“

President of the Government of the Canary Islands Fernando Clavijo Batlle (ES/Renew Europe) said: "Canary Islands can’t deal alone with the migratory situation, not only because our resources are very limited but also because this is an European problem: we are the Southern border of Southern Europe. It is important that the EU’s migration policy makes a difference between minors and adults, because their situations need to be treated differently."

In the CIVEX meeting on Monday, members discussed the proposal to establish a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union. During the exchange of views with rapporteur-general Karin Müller (DE/EPP), State Secretary for European and International Affairs of the State of Hesse, CIVEX members highlighted a range of concerns from the local level. The opinion requested by the Danish Presidency of the EU Council will be adopted at the next plenary session in October.

EU-Switzerland relations

On 7 July, CIVEX members adopted a draft opinion on Enhancing the territorial dimension of the EU-Switzerland relationship, led by rapporteur Matteo Luigi Bianchi (IT/ECR), Member of the Local Executive of Morazzone. The Head of Mission of Switzerland to the EU, Rita Adam, referred in her intervention to the new package of agreements aimed at consolidating EU-Switzerland relations, including cross-border cooperation through 10 Interreg programmes that Switzerland currently participates in. In the preparation of the opinion Mr Bianchi held various meetings with representatives of the Swiss cantons and the Mission of Switzerland to the EU.

Rapporteur Bianchi said: "With this opinion we want to strengthen cooperation between the EU and Switzerland, enhancing the role of European local and regional authorities and the Swiss cantons, key partners in multi-level governance. It is important to work with Switzerland for the many shared interests such as mobility, infrastructure and management of the Schengen area in full respect of Swiss federalism and active subsidiarity. Having stronger ties with Switzerland means building a more competitive and cohesive Europe that is closer to the citizens."

Members also discussed another upcoming opinion on Local and regional perspectives in the implementation of the ProtectEU European internal security strategy, that will be led by Anne Rudisuhli (FR/Renew Europe), Departmental Councillor of Bouches-du-Rhône.

More information:

Photos from the meeting and the conference

Rewatch the meeting

According to the European Union Agency for Asylum, over one million first-time asylum seekers sought protection in the EU in 2024, and with 47 000 new arrivals, the Canary Islands emerged as the busiest migration route into the EU towards the end of the year. Among those reaching the archipelago from the West and North Africa coasts, there has been a significant percentage of unaccompanied children and adolescents. It is estimated that 5 182 unaccompanied migrant minors resided in the Islands in 2024.

The CoR study The role of local authorities in protecting and integrating migrant and refugee unaccompanied minors: best practices and challenges provides examples of how different LRAs are working to protect and integrate unaccompanied migrant and refugee minors. The cities and regions explored in this study are the Canary Islands in Spain, the Bouches-du-Rhône département in France, the City of Athens in Greece and the City of Łódź in Poland.

Factsheet: How do EU cities and regions protect and integrate unaccompanied migrant minors?

The CoR has issued two opinions concerning the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. In both opinions, the CoR highlights the need to implement the Pact in a way that safeguards the needs of minors as vulnerable people. The CoR has also adopted an opinion on the protection of children in migration, in which it highlights the need for the principle of best interests of the child to guide decisions and measures regarding children and emphasises that good reception and integration of migrant minors are a long-term investment in welfare, democracy and human rights.

Contact:

Lauri Ouvinen

Tel. +32 473536887

lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu