Two decades of EU funds for migration and asylum : the MigFund dataset

Abstract

This paper explains the rationale of the MigFund dataset, which traces, analyzes, and quantifies EU financial allocations for migration and asylum from 2000 to 2023. Encompassing around 1700 policy measures from various EU funding programs, it provides a comprehensive overview of the EU’s financial commitments, including separate data on internal and external dimensions. The dataset introduces a coding system to categorize the content of funding allocations, identifying target groups, geographic reach, sub-policy areas, and the scope of the measures, which are evaluated for their restrictiveness or openness concerning migration governance objectives. This paper outlines the data collection process, highlighting inherent challenges from identifying and categorizing measures to the coding scheme that underpins the dataset. The central premise of the MigFund project is that policy instruments are not neutral but reflect deeper normative and strategic choices about migration and asylum issues by policymakers and civil servants.