Brussels, 12/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On 12 February, the European Commission regretted the loss of life of 300 migrants attempting to land on Europe's Mediterranean shores between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Frans Timmermans said that “this is another tragedy at our doors and we cannot look away”. The First Vice-President of the European Commission called on the member states to work with the European institution to work out new “solutions for improving migration management”.
The Commission will hold an initial debate on the future communication on migration at the beginning of March. It particularly wants to tackle the question of the Frontex agency budget, which currently stands at just €90 million a year. The Commission is also preparing to respond to contributions from member states to this debate, such as the Franco-German letter sent at the end of January. This suggests developing an additional mechanism in the Mediterranean for monitoring suspect vessels, particularly off the Turkish and Cypriot coasts and using Frontex budget reserves (see EUROPE 11243). (Solenn Paulic)