| “We need a humanitarian effort to at least provide tents, food and water to those trapped in the cold weather on Europe’s borders. People sleeping in the cold and in the mud, children without warm cloths and the total lack of coordination are unacceptable.”, Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the European Liberals and Democrats.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker today called a Leaders’ Meeting on 25 October to discuss the refugee flows along the Western Balkans route.
The last weeks have made crystal clear that individual Member States are unable to deal with the refugee influx themselves without European help. European Liberals and Democrats urges the Commission and the Member States to accept this fact and show solidarity with the refugees and with each other by triggering the solidarity clause of the European Treaty which deals with these kind of emergencies.
Guy Verhofstadt: “The EU’s response to those countries bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis has so far been pitiful; the leaders present should not be allowed to leave this meeting until they have together agreed a plan to improve the status quo. This could be achieved by triggering of the solidarity clause under Article222 of the TFEU, so that special assistance can be offered to protect and shelter the vulnerable migrants, to coordinate the fingerprinting and housing of the refugees and to give them clarity about their future in or outside the European Union.”
The ALDE Group hopes the partial participation of EU Governments will not set a precedent, as this humanitarian crisis requires an EU wide response. ALDE’s spokesperson on the refugee crisis, Cecilia Wikström, commented:
“I strongly welcome this initiative by Juncker, but there is no good reason why all EU Member States should not participate. The reality is we will only be able to deal with this humanitarian catastrophe by showing EU wide solidarity and delivering a meaningful collective response. Many of the refugees will unfortunately of course end up in Calais and elsewhere anyway. We should be careful not to re-inforce the notion that Europe’s refugee crisis is a problem to be solved by some EU Member States and not others. ”
“All EU Member States have a moral obligation to offer assistance to those countries on the migratory routes. Between now and Christmas, efforts must be re-doubled to deliver an effective and well-resourced EU coastguard and border force, a humanitarian response based on solidarity and a genuine EU asylum and migration policy.”
“In the public debate we see how member states put it as if the refugee situation in Europe is a huge problem for the member states to handle. However, we must always keep in the mind that the main problems lie with the refugees who had to flee their countries and restart their lives in a foreign country that they might not be familiar with.”
Note to the editors
Article 222
1. The Union and its Member States shall act jointly in a spirit of solidarity if a Member State is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster. The Union shall mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the military resources made available by the Member States, to:
(a) - prevent the terrorist threat in the territory of the Member States;
- protect democratic institutions and the civilian population from any terrorist attack;
- assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a terrorist attack;
(b) assist a Member State in its territory, at the request of its political authorities, in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.
2. Should a Member State be the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster, the other Member States shall assist it at the request of its political authorities. To that end, the Member States shall coordinate between themselves in the Council.
3. The arrangements for the implementation by the Union of the solidarity clause shall be defined by a decision adopted by the Council acting on a joint proposal by the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The Council shall act in accordance with Article 31(1) of the Treaty on European Union where this decision has defence implications. The European Parliament shall be informed.
For the purposes of this paragraph and without prejudice to Article 240, the Council shall be assisted by the Political and Security Committee with the support of the structures developed in the context of the common security and defence policy and by the Committee referred to in Article 71; the two committees shall, if necessary, submit joint opinions.
4. The European Council shall regularly assess the threats facing the Union in order to enable the Union and its Member States to take effective action. |
