Brussels, 17/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 17 September, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn called on the EU member states to face up to their financial responsibility in the migration crisis and help the most affected neighbourhood countries. He also said that European foreign policy is not “a cash machine”.
“The Commission is taking its share of responsibility towards the countries [of the neighbourhood affected by the migration crisis] but the money is a determining factor (…) We too are facing budget constraints and we can't do the impossible. I call on the member states to contribute - those which call on us all the time for European trust funds and aid packages, and which see European foreign policy as a cash machine without, however, asking themselves where the money is coming from (…) Every member state needs to contribute - it's then that we can withdraw something”, Hahn said at a press conference in Brussels.
He stated that 26 member states have not yet made any contribution to the trust fund for Syria, “although they ask us for more every day. I urge them to do more”, he said. Only Germany and Italy have thus far contributed to the fund (see EUROPE 11324).
Hahn announced that the Commission was ready to redirect the funds planned for the countries suffering migration pressure to projects linked to the migration crisis. “It's impressive what these countries manage to do” for the migrants, he said. “We must do more. We're ready to redirect funds for neighbourhood facilities to these countries”, he announced (see EUROPE 11390). Hahn explained that funds up to €1 billion could be redirected to projects linked to the migration crisis in Turkey. He mentioned, for example, the financing of health services, teaching or infrastructure for the regions affected by the migration crisis. The funding would mainly come from the pre-accession funds. Every year, Turkey receives around €600 million from these funds. Answering a question from EUROPE, Hahn did not, however, give details on how long this redirection would go on. He said that Turkey had to give its approval because some agreements have already been passed to finance other projects and the money would therefore be redirected to migration-linked projects. He added that there were conditions, such as doing more to register the migrants, to readmit and return them, or fighting against the smugglers and traffickers more. Pre-accession support for migration-linked activities in the Western Balkans and Turkey has amounted to €600 million since 2007.
Hahn also said that he was going to try and push the countries that do not participate in aid programmes - such as the USA, Canada and the Gulf countries - to do so. “This crisis is an international problem and not a European problem”, he said.
Schulz calls on member states to reach for their wallets. Elsewhere, European Parliament President Martin Schulz also called on the member states to respect the commitments, taken at the Justice and Home Affairs Council, to increase funding to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (see EUROPE 11388). “I think it's an absolute imperative for the member states, under your presidency of the Council, to deliver on their commitments in the coming days”, he said in a letter to Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. Schulz said he believed it was an “issue of urgency, of coherence and of credibility”. During the Parliament plenary session on 17 September, he also asked the Commission “that the necessary budgets be able to help Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, where it's possible, and Turkey”.
On 15 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini had also called on the member states to respect their financial commitments (see EUROPE 11389). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)