EU Statement - International Organisation for Migration - Presentation by the Director General

International Organisation for Migration

116^th Session of the Council

8-10 December 2025

Presentation by the Director General

Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States

Chair,

I speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova¹, the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Director General,

1. We commend you for your report and express our sincere appreciation to IOM staff worldwide for their dedication in an exceptionally challenging year. We stress that IOM’s structural realignment must be accompanied by realistic budgeting and call for substantive engagement with Member States to ensure reforms are values-driven, remaining strategic, coherent, efficient and sustainable. We underline the importance of maintaining IOM’s organisational capacity and expertise in migration policy.
2. Safeguarding core functions that ensure transparency, accountability and integrity has been essential, and we welcome IOM’s forthcoming membership in the JIU.
3. In the context of the UN-80 Initiative and the Humanitarian Reset, we stress the need for a more coherent, efficient and effective multilateral system, built on clear mandates, operational complementarity, and strengthened cooperation and coordination across agencies, from field to headquarters. We encourage IOM to remain actively engaged in these processes. We attach particular importance to deepening IOM’s partnership with UNHCR, while also reinforcing synergies with other UN entities, regional organisations and local actors to deliver integrated and sustainable responses, based on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
4. We strongly support IOM’s vital work in displacement and humanitarian crises, such as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, escalating hostilities in Sudan, the dire situation in Gaza and many other crises. We mourn the devastating deaths of civilians and humanitarian personnel and call for strict compliance with IHL.
5. We reaffirm our support to IOM as a key partner in our comprehensive and humane migration policy, including field protection, assistance and inclusive integration, addressing irregular migration and for providing opportunities for regular pathways, in line with national competences.
6. Through mutually beneficial partnerships with countries of origin, transit and destination we - together with IOM - are strengthening migration governance, including border management, and cooperation on voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return and readmission, as essential components of a comprehensive migration policy.
7. We value IOM’s operational role in supporting efforts to combat migrant smuggling and human trafficking, as well as to address the instrumentalization of migrants.
8. We also value IOM’s operational contribution to the implementation of the EU’s migration policies and instruments, notably the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, and the new Pact for the Mediterranean. In line with this, we encourage IOM to continue engaging on a route-based approach and offering critical expertise on innovative solutions, in close coordination with UNHCR.
9. For more than two decades, the EU and its Member States have advanced our migration and development agenda through comprehensive partnerships with third countries. Through dedicated development policy instruments, including the Global Gateway initiative, we are addressing the root causes of migration such as economic inequalities, limited access to public services, and governance and security challenges. Adapting to evolving drivers of vulnerability and mobility, notably digital and green transitions and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, together with IOM and partners, we leverage diaspora expertise and remittances through innovative, forward‑looking investments worldwide.
10. This illustrates our commitment as a predictable and largest IOM donor. Together we currently provide over one billion USD, or 37 per cent of IOM’s budget.
11. We welcome IOM’s ongoing efforts to strengthen data, evidence and responsible innovation, including the targeted and ethical use of AI.
12. We also value IOM’s expertise in developing demand-driven, mutually beneficial labour pathways and in supporting the implementation of Talent Partnerships, including through enhanced cooperation with the ILO, the World Bank and the private sector.
13. As IOM concludes its year chairing the internal displacement portfolio in a challenging global context, we encourage its continued engagement with UNHCR, UNDP and the wider UN system to support national and local authorities.
14. Finally, we welcome this year’s Global Appeal as a tool that emphasizes strategic funding needs while preserving IOM’s agility and responsiveness to Member States’ needs. We underline the importance of flexible, diversified and sustainable funding, expanding partnerships with new and emerging donors, local and regional private actors and international financial institutions. We further stress the need to uphold equality, diversity, inclusion and a human rights-based approach across all of IOM’s work.

Thank you.

¹North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.