Key facts
Switzerland aims to ensure the integration of foreign nationals who are lawfully resident in the country for the longer term. Integration is to be achieved through participation in economic, social and cultural life. The Confederation, the cantons and the communes are responsible for creating conditions conducive to this integration. The Confederation provides financial contributions to supplement the expenditure incurred by the cantons for integration. These contributions totalled CHF 481.3 million in 2023. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) is responsible for establishing programme agreements relating to cantonal integration programmes (CIPs) and supervising their implementation. Since 2024, the SEM has been responsible for monitoring the five integration objectives set out in the Integration Agenda Switzerland (IAS) for recognised refugees and temporarily admitted persons.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined the monitoring of the IAS and the supervision of the CIPs. In this context, it followed up on the recommendations made in two audits conducted in 2016 and 2018.
The audit focused on the CIP 3 programme agreements, relating to the period 2024–27 and representing a budget of CHF 384.6 million for the year 2024.
The IAS brings about a relevant paradigm shift in terms of steering, because the objectives are now assessed based on the effects of the integration measures rather than on the services provided. However, its monitoring does pose some difficulties. The lack of measurable indicators for two of the five IAS objectives and the unreliability of the data obtained from the cantons limit the possibilities of steering using this instrument. Since the last audits carried out by the SFAO, the SEM has improved its supervisory concept. This has been achieved in particular by beefing up financial supervision. However, this progress has taken time, and weaknesses remain. Of the ten recommendations followed up on by the SFAO, three could not yet be considered to be fully implemented.
