(14 October 2015) – Ahead of the European Council of 15 October, the European Commission has today put on the table a Communication describing the State of Play of the implementation of the priority actions under the European Agenda on Migration.
Concerning operational measures, the hotspot approach proposed by the Commission is now starting to function, with Migration Management Support Teams fully operational in Lampedusa, Italy, and being rolled out in Greece.
This has allowed for the first relocations of asylum seekers to take place, as well as a number of return flights for irregular migrants with no right to stay.
In terms of budgetary support, the Commission has already proposed amendments to its 2015 and 2016 budgets, boosting the resources devoted to the refugee crisis by €1.7 billion. This means that the Commission will spend €9.2 billion in total on the refugee crisis in 2015 and 2016.