Strasbourg, 23/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held an emergency debate on Thursday 23 April on the “human tragedy in the Mediterranean”.
PACE said the measures announced by EU foreign and home affairs ministers on Monday ahead of the European summit (see other article) were totally insufficient. It called on the EU to address issues left in abeyance in the EU action plan due in May. Among these matters pending listed in the report by Thierry Mariani (EPP, France) are a comprehensive approach to the issue, with all the member states increasing their contributions to search and rescue operations at sea and review of the Dublin regulation which makes the country of arrival of migrants responsible for them. PACE is preparing a report on the need to revise this regulation. (Véronique Leblanc)