In the European Union, refugee policy lacks a medium- and long-term strategy that supports actors in the EU who are willing to receive and integrate refugees. The European Integration and Development Fund, as part of the Municipal Integration and Development Initiative (initiated by Dr Gesine Schwan), recognises the central role of cities and municipalities in voluntarily hosting refugees and promoting their integration. By providing additional funding for integration and urban development, the fund aims to counteract the negative perception of refugees and use their integration as an impetus for sustainable urban development. However, from a Union law perspective, the question remains whether the EU would have the competence to establish such a fund in the first place, whether the idea could be realised within the framework of existing funds, and how (if an independent fund were to be created) it would be legally positioned and designed. This report attempts to shed light on these questions.