Prague Process: Dialogue, Analyses and Training in Action (PP DATA)

To serve the implementation of the Bratislava Ministerial Declaration the European Commission DG HOME allocated the funds for the Prague Process within the Mobility Partnership Facility (MPF) as its component called “Prague Process: Dialogue, Analysis and Training in Action” (PP DATA), which was officially launched on 1 January 2018. The allocated amount of 2,3 Million EUR will ensure partial implementation of the Bratislava Declaration in the years 2018 - 2021.

The overall objective of the PP DATA project will be to sustain and further enhance the established cooperation in the area of migration and asylum between the countries of the European Union, the Schengen Area, the Eastern Partnership, the Western Balkans, Central Asia, Russia and Turkey, through targeted support for the implementation of the priorities set in the Prague Process Action Plan 2012–2016 and in the Declaration endorsed by Ministers during their Conference in Bratislava on 19-20 September 2016.

In line with the Ministerial Declaration, the following three specific objectives were identified for the future implementation of the Prague Process Action Plan:

Specific Objective I: to ensure continued policy- and expert-level dialogue and targeted information exchange among the 50 Prague Process participating states, on the topics identified in the Prague Process Action Plan and the Bratislava Ministerial Declaration.

Specific Objective II: : to establish, maintain and continuously improve the Migration Observatory, hosted by ICMPD. Building on the Prague Process Knowledge base concept and combining state and academic expertise, the Migration Observatory will produce analytical outputs on the thematic areas of the Prague Process Action Plan. All results will be developed and published in English and Russian.

Specific Objective III: to establish, maintain and continuously improve the Training Academy, hosted by ICMPD. The Training Academy will develop training materials and conduct trainings based on accumulated best practices and guidelines. All results, training materials and e-learning tools will be published in English and Russian.

The Migration Observatory and the Training Academy shall both serve as a laboratory for generating new project and cooperation ideas for the Prague Process and MPF purposes.

The target groups of the PP DATA are 1) senior officials, practitioners and experts from ministries and migration services of participating countries; 2) representatives of international organisations, academia and NGOs, in selected areas also the broader public.

Final beneficiaries of the project are the migration services, asylum services, police and border guards of partner countries as well as academics and other as applicable.

All activities and progress of the action will be carried out, monitored and guided by a working group led by the Czech Republic with ICMPD support. The corresponding results will be presented to the Prague Process Senior Officials’ Meetings (SOM), being the Prague Process decisive body, and to the Ministerial Conference foreseen for 2021. The SOM will monitor, guide, discuss and endorse the results of the action for all 50 Prague Process participating states.

To ensure the necessary balance and partnership approach, the project will also seek synergies with ongoing initiatives such as the integration process within the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of Heads of Migration Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Joint Committee for Fight Against Illegal Migration of CIS countries – parties to the Agreement on Fight Against Illegal Migration of 1998, Council of Heads of Border Guards Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Collective Security Treaty Organisation, IOM, UNHCR and the MARRI regional centre.