The European Refugee Fund (ERF) is one of the four funds under the General Programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows. Its main purpose is to support Member States' ability to adequately and safely receive refugees and displaced persons. Up to €628 million have been made available for the period 2008-2013 to cover such area.
Click
here to access Decision 573/2007/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 May 2007 establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 as part of the General Programme 'Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows'.
The fund is operated through shared management - in essence the European Commission allocates funds to the National Responsible Authority of participating Member States (including Malta) on an annual basis. The Responsible Authority would consequently issue calls for proposals, adjudicate projects, monitor their implementation and effect payments to the beneficiaries. Subject to the availability of funds, up to a maximum of 75% of the projects' eligible costs can be co-financed out of the Fund. It is also relevant to point out that the Fund covers also emergency measures aimed at addressing situations of particular pressure - in this case the maximum level of co-financing is 80% and projects have to be carried out within 6 months.
A control mechanism is in place to ensure that funds are managed properly - expenditure is certified by the Certifying Authority and audited by the Audit Authority.
The funds allocated to Malta to date are as follows:
| |
|
| 2013 |
4,864,415 |
| 2012 |
2,395,033 |
| 2011 |
2,618,719.12 |
| 2010 |
1,164,651.22 |
| 2009 |
1,997,035.19 |
| 2008 |
1,199,410 |
DOCUMENTATION
The transparency obligations laid down in the regulatory framework for the European Refugee Fund require Member States to make publicly available the Multi-Annual Programme, the Annual Programmes and also details of final beneficiaries, names of projects and the amount of public and EU funding allocated to them under each annual programme.
In this regard, follow the below links to access the indicated documentation:
ANNUAL PROGRAMMES
LEGISLATION
Strategic Guidelines
BENEFICIARIES
To date a number of calls, covering the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, 2012 and 2013 have been issued and adjudicated in Malta. Details of beneficiaries, project names and financing received can be found
here.