(30 September 2015) – The European Commission has today made a first set of concrete proposals for €1.7 billion of EU funding in 2015 and 2016 in order to address the refugee crisis – money EU Heads of State and Government committed to matching last week.
The money will provide emergency assistance to the most affected EU Member States, increase staffing at front line EU agencies, and provide assistance and humanitarian aid in third countries.
Today’s proposals involve €801.3 million for 2015, and will be funded in part from new funding in the form of a proposed draft amending budget for 2015. In this regard, the Commission is proposing additional commitments of €330.7 million from Member States.
Second, the Commission is proposing that funds are relocated from other areas. For this, the Commission foresees €70.6 million from other programmes and actions and €400 million originally foreseen for humanitarian aid and funding for European neighbourhood policies.