Brussels, 06/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 5 July, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CCRE) launched an online campaign to put pressure on member states to respect their commitments on the relocation of 160,000 refugees. The organisation points out that so far, only 3000 refugees have been relocated. The CCRE sees this as proof of blatant inaction on the part of certain member states. The organisation also reiterates its demand, as part of its appeal launched last April, to put in place a genuine European asylum policy.
The appeal in question calls on member states and the European Commission to adapt operational programmes involving structural and investment funds for tackling the inflow of refugees. It therefore proposed that the European Investment Bank (EIB) provides zero interest loans for building accommodation and infrastructure on the basis of the proposal made by the CCRE Secretary General last March (EUROPE 11511). At a more general level, the organisation is requesting consolidated support for the regional and local authorities in the area of integration and education to help refugees, particularly women, and ensure their inclusion on the labour market.
So far, the appeal has been signed by a number of different cities including Paris, Brussels, Vienna, Munich, Bucharest and Athens. Recently, the European organisation representing major cities, Eurocities, launched a similar appeal to member states (EUROPE 11578). The Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) also made a request to allow for the direct allocation of a part of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to the regions (EUROPE 11531). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)