ANNUAL POLICY REPORT 2012 1. INTRODUCTION ΕΜΝ NCPs are required every year to provide the EMN with an Annual Policy Report according to article 9(1) of Council Decision 2008/381/ΕC. EMN Annual Policy Report 2012 covers the period starting 1st January 2012 till 31st December 2012 and is the ninth in a series of such reports. Criterion for the structure and the content of the Report is the prospect of its contribution to the Commission' s Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum, which may be presented in the Council, as well as EASO's Annual Report. Furthermore, this Report purports to become at a national level a reference text on an annual basis for the policy-making actors at all governance levels, for agents having undertaken relevant research programmes, for the Media, the private sector, and last but not least each person interested in migration and asylum issues. In order to write this Report, respective common study specifications by EMN have been followed. It is noteworthy that the specifications for 2012 rather than resulting from member states commitments as set out in the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum and the Stockholm Programme, they reflect the recently proclaimed EU policy priorities in the field. These priorities are set out in the following policy documents: i. Global Approach to Migration ad Mobility 1. ii. EU Action on Migratory Pressures-A Strategic Response2. iii. EU Strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings (2012-2016)3. iv. European Agenda for the Integration of Third Country Nationals4. The Annual Policy Report 2012 includes an overview at national and European level of the most significant political and legislative developments and public discussions regarding migration and asylum. A development/public discussion is considered to be significant when it concerns an event that has been discussed in the national parliament or has been widely reported in the media. In selecting the significant developments/debates, the type of media and the duration of the respective discussion may also have a determinant role. Similarly if developments or debates led to a proposal amending current legislation or introducing new legislation, then they would also be considered as significant. In addition to the above, given the fiscal situation in Greece and the concomitant political developments in general and especially with regard to migration and asylum issues, the authors have resolved to include in the Report accounts on political formations that have moved the discussion on migration towards the one end of the political/ideological spectrum, as well as accounts on events, whose dynamic course during 2012 has shown their future 1 http://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/news/intro/docs/1_EN_ACT_part1_v11.pdf 2 8714/1/12 REV 1 3 http://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/ 4 COM(2011)455 final 10