Brussels, 30/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - The presidents of the European Commission and of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, wrote to the member states on Friday 30 October urging them to implement the migration crisis management measures taken as long ago as May and including steps to relocate initially 40,000 and then 120,000 people from Greece and Italy and to resettle 22,000 people living in camps in third countries.
The joint letter, the Commission said, again flags up the failure of member states to deliver on the financial commitments taken at the extraordinary European summit on 23 September (see EUROPE 11395) - €2.28 billion are still needed to fulfil the commitments - and the difficulties in putting “hotspots” into operation, with only two of the eleven planned up and running. The letter also highlights policy on returning irregular migrants (153 people were returned in September 2015).
The letter was sent the day after the videoconference, on Thursday 29 October, among the countries which took part in the mini summit on the Balkan route on Sunday 25. That meeting brought progress on commitments in terms of reception places for refugees, the leaders pledging to create 50,000 places in Greece and 50,000 further places in the Balkan states, the Commission said in a press release.
At the meeting, Austria, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia pledged to provide a total of 12,000 places (5,000, 3,000, 2,000 and 2,000 respectively) of the 50,000 places agreed for the Balkan route. Slovenia has said that, of the 400 police officers promised it on Sunday to help manage the arrival of migrants, the other member states have so far committed to 183 (13 have already been deployed and 30 are due to arrive).
The national contact points also agreed on arrangements for daily coordination of information flows with the Commission and the Frontex agency to centralise the data submitted (scale of flows, expected entry points and exit points), the press release says. Frontex informed participants that it had written on 29 October to the national Frontex points of contact in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and Croatia, and to the home affairs ministers of Croatia and Greece to follow up on the commitment to reinforce Operation Poseidon (maritime border control off Greece) and Frontex support at the Bulgarian-Turkish border and the Croatian-Serbian border.
The Commission informed the group that it had held a videoconference with international financial institutions (European Investment Bank, Council of Europe Development Bank, World Bank, International Monetary Fund) to explore how they can support the expansion of reception facilities along the Balkan route. Communication with asylum seekers to provide them with greater information on their rights and obligations in terms of registration was discussed, the Commission added. The next videoconference will take place on 4 November.
The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU is considering putting in place an EU civilian mission in the Balkans, Politico reported on 30 October, possibly made up of police officers from several member states. The Presidency declined to comment on this report. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)