(13 November 2015) – On the occasion of the informal European Council meeting in Malta yesterday (12 November), and following the Valletta Summit, President Juncker provided Heads of State and Government the latest state of play of the collective actions put in place to tackle the refugee crisis.
These included updates on financial pledges, relocation and return operations, the deployment of the Civil Protection Mechanism, and the functioning of Hotspots in Greece and Italy.
The European Agenda on Migration adopted by the Commission in May 2015 set out the need for a comprehensive approach to migration management. Since then, a number of measures have been introduced – including the adoption of two emergency schemes to relocate 160,000 people in clear need of international protection from the Member States most affected to other EU Member States, and the endorsement of the Commission Action Plan on Return.
On 23 September, the European Commission presented a set of priority actions to implement the European Agenda on Migration to be taken within the next six months. This included both short term actions to stabilise the current situation as well as longer term measures to establish a robust system that will bear the test of time.