Invest in integration, invest in local communities

Successful integration can make our societies more prosperous. Getting an education and finding a job are the prerequisites to becoming part of society. We support mutual engagement from both the receiving communities and migrants concerning their rights and obligations towards each other. We should avoid ‘silo’ societies and promote lively communities in which people meet and interact with each other, go to school and work together. Local and regional authorities, civil society organisations and trade unions play a key role in successful integration and therefore need to be empowered. Access to EU funds plays an important role in supporting the integration of people and to strengthen the resilience of the host community. We propose a European integration fund which local authorities could apply for directly and that benefits both the host and refugee communities. We insist that the EU makes additional resources available and to implement policies aimed at empowering newcomers to fulfil their potential as equal participants in our communities and foster the resilience of the host communities. We encourage local authorities and communities to join forces for a progressive cooperation on integration.

When managing migration, we have to uphold our values. Europe flourishes when we act together, based on the principles of solidarity, respect, mutual responsibility, gender equality and humanism.

As the Party of European Socialists, we are fighting for equal societies. In this resolution we have focused particularly on our priorities for progressive European asylum and migration policies. It goes hand-in-hand with seven other resolutions for this PES Congress that reaffirm our commitment and plan for a progressive economy, empowering youth, a healthy environment and modern industries, true gender equality, a fair world and a stronger democracy in Europe.