(09 September 2015) – The European Commission is today putting forward a comprehensive package of proposals which can help address the refugee crisis.
The new set of measures will alleviate pressure from Member States most affected – notably Greece, Italy and Hungary – by proposing to relocate 120,000 people in clear need of international protection to other EU Member States.
This number will be on top of the 40,000 that the Commission proposed in May to relocate from Greece and Italy and for which the decision by the Council is still to be adopted.
Today’s measures will also help those Member States faced with a growing number of asylum applications by enabling a swifter processing of asylum applications though a common European list of safe countries of origin.
Finally, the Commission is also addressing the ‘external dimension’ of the refugee crisis, outlining the main actions for making return policy more effective and proposing a €1.8 billion Trust Fund to help tackle the root causes for migration in Africa.