Answer given by Ms Johansson on behalf of the European Commission

The number of migrants considered to be unaccompanied minors who applied for asylum in the EU over the period 2012-2020 is published by Eurostat[1]. The 2017 Communication on the protection of children in migration[2] encouraged Member States to improve data collection on children in migration, yet gaps in data collection persist, including data for unaccompanied children who do not apply for asylum[3].

The access of migrant children to education shall be financed by the Member State responsible for the asylum application. Costs related to the education of migrant children are eligible for funding under the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund.

The New Pact and accompanying proposals do not propose modifications of the Family Reunification Directive[4], which lays down the conditions under which unaccompanied minors obtaining international protection in the EU may be reunited with family members from outside of the EU. It is only proposed[5] to extend the definition of ‘family members’ to include siblings in the context of reunification of family members who legally reside in the EU. This does not have substantial consequences for unaccompanied minors, as they already have the right to be reunited with siblings under Article 8 of Regulation 604/2013[6]. The Commission is not in a position to provide an estimate of the number of persons who will fall under this provision in the future, but available data indicates that Article 8 of Regulation 604/2013 was applied in 344 cases in 2019.

• [1] The data, specified by year and by country, is available at https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_asyunaa/default/table?lang=en .
• [2] COM(2017) 21 final of 12.4.2017.
• [3] For further information about persistent gaps in the collection of data on unaccompanied minors, please see the European Migration Network’s recent report entitled: ‘EMN 2019 Report on Children in Migration’, available at https://emnbelgium.be/publication/emn-2019-report-children-migration .
• [4] Council Directive 2003/86/EC of 22 September 2003 on the right to family reunification, OJ L 251, 3.10.2003, p. 12‐18.
• [5] COM(2020) 610 final of 23.9.2020.
• [6] Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person,
  OJ L 180, 29.6.2013, p. 31‐59.