Luxembourg, 06/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has still reached no conclusions on the budgetary treatment of the migration challenge with regard to the Stability and Growth Pact.
It is “too early” to say whether the exceptional circumstances clauses of the Stability Pact can be invoked regarding the budgetary treatment of the hosting and integration of refugees, the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, said on Tuesday 6 October after the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). The work on the economic and budgetary impact of the migration challenge needs to be continued at greater depth, he said. He went on to explain that in response to specific requests from the member states, the Commission would apply the Pact “consistently” in order to ensure “equality of treatment”, whilst taking account of the specific circumstances of each country.
Given the “ongoing nature” of the budgetary impact arising from the influx of refugees, the Commissioner stated that additional expenditure incurred in this regard would not be accounted for as one-off expenditure.
Observing these discussions “with interest”, the President of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, expressed his hopes that the states will not succumb to “total irresponsibility”, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. Since the end of the summer, Austria and Italy have been calling for a flexible interpretation of the Pact as regards the budgetary impact of the migration challenge (see EUROPE 11396). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)