Collective projects

The pressures currently placed on the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) by the ongoing crises in Syria, Iraq, Central and East Africa, and elsewhere are unlikely to fade away in the near future. The large scale and partially uncontrolled arrival of migrants, notably asylum seekers, in 2015 has put a strain on both European and Member States' asylum systems. It has exposed significant structural weaknesses and shortcomings in both the design and implementation of European asylum and migration policy.

The post-2014 inflow of refugees and asylum applicants can pose significant challenges to EU economies, societies and processes of integration. In the medium and long term, much will depend on how fast and well these new migrants will be integrated into European labour markets. International experience suggests that they have lower employment rates and lower wages than EU workers, but that these differences diminish over time as migrants improve their language skills and gain professional experience in the host country.

The fundamental values forming the foundation of the European Union are stated in and ensured by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union under the headings of dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights and justice. Reactions and responses to the increased flows of migrants, including refugees arriving in Europe, combined with the backdrop of the economic crisis, have put these fundamental values and the ideal of a Europe 'united in diversity' under pressure.

The fragility of many countries around the world, including in the EU’s vicinity, makes migration more prevalent. New and cheaper means of global mobility and social networks render migration easier. Migration featured prominently in the Seventh Framework Programme and continues to do so under Societal Challenge 6. The challenge is to map, assemble and survey currently running migration research conducted especially at EU and Member State level. The objective is to scientifically inform and possibly improve the policy responses to the recent migration waves to Europe (post - 2014).

Ensuring that research and innovation in bio-based products and processes is not only excellent, but also relevant and responsive to the needs of all actors is important, not least in ensuring the uptake of results. Surveys show that consumers and citizens in general have little awareness and knowledge of bio-based products (BBP). To improve market uptake of bio-based products, shape future research in BBP science, technology and innovation and meet the views and expectations of society, there is a need for a broad, inclusive assessment of the challenges and opportunities at hand.

The interaction between people, oceans, seas and coasts is a broad domain with significant impacts on human health and well-being. However, it remains fragmented, poorly understood and underexploited. As coastal populations grow worldwide, not only due to permanent dwellers but also due to increasingly larger number of tourists, the determinants and impacts of this link between oceans and people become more relevant. On the one hand, the seas provide benefits namely through food, feed and positive impacts on overall wellness.

In its "Strategic Agenda for the Union in Times of Change" for the period 2014 to 2019, the European Council identified the need to "maximize the EU's clout" in global affairs, notably by "ensuring consistency between Member States' and EU foreign policy goals and by improving coordination and coherence between the main fields of EU external action, such as trade (…) development and economic policies". One area which definitely promises maximised EU clout in global affairs is trade.

Migration is a central and common phenomenon in human history. The international migrant population in Europe[1] is expected to increase in the future, due to economic and demographic factors, political unrest, conflicts and climate change. One aspect that has become increasingly clear in recent years is that, if the EU wants to successfully manage immigration flows at home, it needs to strengthen its cooperation with third countries of origin and transit of migrants, by fully addressing the root causes of migration and exploiting the potential of migration as a development enabler.

The European Union's neighbouring regions are, in various ways and for a number of reasons, in turmoil. To the East, the Eastern partnership has been called into question, especially by the long-standing crisis in Ukraine and difficult and uncertain relations with Russia. In the South-East, the EU's relationship with Turkey has increasingly come under strain, while at Turkey's border the conflict in Syria and the ravage of Islamic State armies have created high degrees of instability. In the Western Balkans, the accession processes of several candidate countries remain challenging.

In-spite of its undisputable importance as a region located at a strategic crossroad to the Far East, as a rich reservoir of natural resources and as an area of traditional trade relations with Europe, Central Asia has been rather neglected by the major global players in the post-Soviet era. Only in more recent years, the political and economic developments in the five countries of the region - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - have received more attention.