Greece to see 66,400 refugees relocated under Commission plan unveiled by Juncker

Gazzetta team 9 Σεπτεμβρίου 2015 - 17:35

The European Commission has proposed the relocation of an additional 120,000 refugees that are currently in Greece, Italy and the Hungary to other EU member-states, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told MEPs on Wednesday. This number is in addition to a proposal for the relocation of 40,000 presented by the Commission last May, raising the total proposed number of refugees to be relocated to 160,000.

If there was any situation in which Europe must show solidarity that was the refugee crisis, Juncker underlined in a major address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, urging all European countries to participate in this effort.

In the case of crisis-stricken Greece, the Commission proposal translates into a total of 66,400 refugees to be transferred to other EU countries, while another 54,000 will be accepted from Hungary and 39,600 from Italy.

The Commission's proposal is based on a formula using measurable factors, of which 40 pct is the size of the host-country population, 40 pct the country's GDP, 10 pct the number of previous asylum applications and 10 pct the country's unemployment rate. It has also proposed that the countries participating in this effort receive 780 million euros from the EU budget, including 50 pct advance funding in order to ensure that EU governments have the resources to act rapidly on a national, regional and local level.

The emergency relocation mechanisms proposed by the EU Commission must now be approved by the extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council due to be held on September 14 in Brussels and in consultation with the European Parliament.