Brussels, 03/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 3 February, the permanent representatives of the EU member states reached an agreement on the modalities and aims of the €3 billion package that will finance the EU-Turkey action plan to stem the flow of migrants to the EU.
“Europe is following up on its decision to make €3 billion available for the Turkey Refugee Facility, and we will continue to work hard with our Turkish partners to turn this into concrete results”, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated.
Italy, which demanded neutrality from its contribution under the rules of the Stability Pact, has finally withdrawn its last reservations (see EUROPE 11480).
According to the agreement, the European Commission will contribute up to €1 billion from the Community budget and the member states will contribute up to €2 billion. The key to apportionment will be the country's GDP - with Germany therefore being the biggest contributor to this €2 billion (21.4%), followed by the UK (16.4%) and France (15.5%). The contribution from Cyprus (€2.3 million) will go to support projects in Jordan and Lebanon, via the Community budget.
The commitment appropriations cover the years 2016 and 2017, and the payments will be made until 2019. A specific committee, which will meet for the first time on Wednesday 17 February, will be responsible for selecting the humanitarian projects to receive part of this financing. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)