During the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council held yesterday in Luxembourg, conclusions on return and readmission policies were adopted, focusing on the operationalisation of solutions and a financial package to deal with the refugee crisis.
The Migration section of the Council, chaired by Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Minister of Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn, involved discussions on the EU's policy on returns and the management of EU external borders, and led to the adoption of a financial package which would rapidly unblock €400 million in commitment appropriations.
"Since the beginning of our Presidency, we said it would only be through advancing a logical packet that we would succeed in finding an answer to the current migration crisis," commented Minister Jean Asselborn at the end of the meeting, before emphasising the need for "a set of measures and actions which, if implemented in parallel, will take effect".
The Ministers were briefed by the Commission and the Italian and Greek delegations on the implementation of the decision adopted by the extraodinary JHA Council on 14 September 2015 concerning the relocation of 40,000 people in need of international protection.
The Minister continued: "In this context, we also spoke of mobilising the necessary resources through national experts for the hotspots in Italy and in Greece,that is to say the mobilisation of 670 people in additional staff to be deployed by Frontex, and 99 experts on asylum by EASO, to provide first reception tasks such as digital fingerprinting, a first interview or interpretation."
In addition, the Council adopted conclusions on return and readmission policies, which focus on operationalisation and provide a precise overview of the work to be undertaken in the future. Adequate financial resources need to be allocated in order to increase the effectiveness of the EU monitoring system, with particular attention paid to high migratory pressure in Member States.
"It is about mobilising new money, additional staff for Frontex, the immediate creation of a European office for return within Frontex, the direct organisation of return flights by Frontex," explained Jean Asselborn, with the Council stressing the need to cooperate with countries of origin and transit.
The financial package adopted by the Council will aim to strengthen EU financial support as part of the European agena on migration, with €400 million in commitment appropriations and €57 million in payments. The package includes €300 million in commitments for the European Neighbourhood Instrument (EFI) to provide assistance to non-member countries hosting refugees from Syria; €100 million in commitments for emergency aid provided under the AMIF fund and the internal security fund, and €55.7 million in payments for humanitarian aid.
These funds will also lead to the creation of 120 additional posts for agencies, including 60 for Frontex, 30 for EASO and 30 for Europol. Jean Asselborn welcomed "the adoption of this financial package, which allows us to follow fast action European policies in the field, and improve the response to the current crisis."
Minister Asselborn today left for a trip to Italy and Greece alongside European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, where they will meet the first 21 refugees to be transferred under the newly implemented relocation process.
Photo by European Council (Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, MInister for Immigration and Asylum, Jean Asselborn)
