On 24 August, the European Commission called on the Italian authorities to put a stop to its totally unproductive threats and, instead, help to find a solution to the question of taking in migrants rescued at sea.
Commission spokesperson, Alexander Winterstein, was responding to the threat made yesterday evening by Vice Prime Minister, Luigi di Maio, for Italy to no longer contribute to the European budget if no solution were found on the question of migration.
The other Vice Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, had even brandished the threat of leaving the EU in this connection.
This threat did not go down very well in Brussels. The spokesperson pointed out that once the Commission had received the request from Rome regarding the Diciotti vessel, it had been immediately activated amongst the member states. The spokesperson explained that if there has so far not been any solution, it is certainly not due to a lack of effort on the Commission's part. He also called on the Italian government “not to apportion blame to anyone” and that “unconstructive comments and threats do not help at all”.
The Commission also emphasised that the EU was a common area of law and operated on the basis of rules and “not on threats”.
The Italian Minister for Economic Development had warned that “If there is no outcome at the European Commission's meeting tomorrow on the distribution of the migrants on board the Diciotti, the Five Star Movement and myself will no longer be disposed to paying €20 billion to the EU every year”.
On Friday 24 August, diplomats from 12 member states met in Brussels at the invitation of the Commission to examine the action launched by the European Council on 28 June (see EUROPE 12080) but not specifically the situation on the Diciotti, explained the Commission, which other sources also confirmed. This meeting was supposed to last two hours but went on longer than planned. It did not, however, produce a solution with regard to this vessel. The children on board, however, were given authorisation by Rome on 23 August to disembark onto Italian soil. As we went to press, few factors relating to this meeting had as yet leaked out. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)