Brussels, 02/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 2 December, the German government insisted that all of the 28 countries of the EU should put their hands in their pockets to finance the €3 billion action plan to help Turkey host and integrate Syrian refugees on its territory.
“All of the member states should contribute to the financing of this €3 billion plan”, the German Secretary of State for Finance, Jens Spahn, told German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
On 29 November, the European and Turkish leaders agreed upon financial support of €3 billion to help Turkey, in exchange for its commitment to improve its border controls and cooperate in fight against smugglers (see EUROPE 11441). However, the member states have not yet laid down the financing terms.
So far, only the European Commission has pledged €500 million from the European budget in the framework of the facility for Syrian refugees proposed on Wednesday 25 November, and which divides the remainder of the sum between the member states using the distribution key of the European budget. The meeting of the EU finance ministers, to be held in Brussels next week, will tackle the issue. (Solenn Paulic)