Refugee crisis: Commission welcomes Member States' agreement on Emergency Assistance instrument for faster crisis response within the EU

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC)1, gepubliceerd op woensdag 9 maart 2016.

The positive support comes just one week after the Commission put forward the proposal to provide €700 million over the next three years to Member States whose own response capacities are overwhelmed by urgent and exceptional circumstances.

European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides2 said: "I strongly welcome the agreement of Member States who share our urgency to get emergency support where it's needed, such as in Greece, as soon as possible. I now look forward to the European Parliament backing our proposal for an amending budget line, so that we can swiftly start providing funds in close cooperation with Member States, to key partners that can channel support to refugees in need."

Next Steps: The Council is expected to give its formal approval of the proposal next Tuesday. The Commission just proposed, to the European Parliament and to the Council as the budgetary authorities, an amending budget for 2016 to create the necessary budget line for the instrument.

Background

As outlined in the Commission's proposal of 2 March, emergency assistance would be provided in close coordination and consultation with Member States and organisations such as UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and international organisations, and include the provision of basic necessities such as food, shelter and medicine to the large numbers of children, women and men currently arriving in EU countries.

The Commission already announced on 10 February its intention to develop the EU's capacity to provide humanitarian assistance internally and the European Council conclusions of 19 February supported this intention. Building on the experience of the EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department, humanitarian assistance would be directed at covering the great humanitarian needs of refugees and migrants within EU Member States

In response to the refugee crisis within the EU, so far a number of other instruments, such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF3) the Internal Security Fund (ISF4) or the European Fund for the Most Deprived (FEAD5) have already been providing significant financial resources for assistance within Europe. These instruments have proven their use, but they were not designed to address large humanitarian-scale needs.

The EU Civil Protection Mechanism6 (EUCPM) has been used for mobilising material support such as shelter, hygiene material and medical supplies as well as expertise to support Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia in coping with the increased numbers of arrival. This solidarity mechanism, however, was designed for situations where one Member State is in need - it does not provide funding and relies on voluntary offers from Member States whose own support capacities may be overstretched at this time.

The Proposal for emergency support therefore aims at filling a gap - to have a more appropriate instrument available at Union level for addressing humanitarian needs within the territory of the EU.

For More Information:

Press release: Commission proposes new Emergency Assistance instrument for faster crisis response within the EU http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-482_en.htm

MEMO/16/483: Addressing humanitarian crises within the European Union http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-483_en.htm

Proposal for a Council Regulation on the provision of emergency support within the Union

Communication of the Commission

Visual factsheet

The European Agenda on Migration

IP/16/706

Press contacts:

General public inquiries: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 67 89 10 11 or by email

Verwant nieuws

  • 1. 
    Deze instelling van de Europese Unie kan worden beschouwd als het 'dagelijks bestuur' van de EU. De leden van de Europese Commissie worden 'Eurocommissarissen' genoemd. Elke Eurocommissaris is verantwoordelijk voor één of meerdere beleidsgebieden.
     
  • 2. 
    De Cyprioot Christos Stylianides (1958) was lid van de Europese Commissie. In de Commissie-Juncker was hij belast met humanitaire hulp. Stylianides is lid van het Cypriotische parlement voor DISY, de centrumrechtse partij van Cyprus. Als partijfunctionaris hield hij zich bezig met Europese zaken. Van huis uit is hij kaakchirurg.
     
  • 3. 
    Het Asiel-, Migratie-, en Integratie fonds heeft samen met het Fonds voor Interne Veiligheid (ISF) het doel om de efficiënte omgang met migranteninstromingen te bevorderen en om een Europese aanpak voor asiel en migratie verder te ontwikkelen. Het fonds is de opvolger van vier oude migratiefondsen (Integratiefonds, Terugkeerfonds, Vluchtelingenfonds en Buitengrenzenfonds). De activiteiten van het fonds vallen binnen het kader van het Europese asiel- en migratiebeleid.
     
  • 4. 
    Het Fonds voor Interne Veiligheid (ISF) heeft tot doel de veiligheid in de EU te vergroten door het verbeteren van grenscontroles en de infrastructuur bij de grenzen. Het Fonds is opgesplitst in twee programma's:
     
  • 5. 
    Dit fonds had als doel om, via partnerorganisaties, voedsel, kleding en andere essentiële goederen aan de minstbedeelden te verstrekken. Voor de periode 2014-2020 zat een bedrag van 3,8 miljard euro in het fonds. De EU zegde in de Europa 2020-strategie toe het aantal mensen dat in armoede leeft of door armoede dreigt te worden getroffen met minstens twintig miljoen te laten afnemen. In 2014 hadden 43 miljoen Europeanen een gebrek aan voedsel en 80 miljoen leefden onder de armoedegrens.
     
  • 6. 
    RescEU is een financieringsmechanisme van de Europese Unie dat betrekking heeft op ‘civiele rampen.’ Dit betreft onder andere natuurrampen, rampen door menselijk toedoen of acute noodsituaties. Het mechanisme moet het reactievermogen van lidstaten verbeteren, maar ook moet het initiatieven van de EU-lidstaten in het geval van civiele rampen coördineren, aanvullen en ondersteunen.