554,000 #refugees must be relocated from Italy and Greece to other member states

GUE/NGL MEPs have strongly condemned the European Commission's proposal to relocate 54,000 refugees from Turkey to EU member states, instead of relocating refugees from Italy and Greece as previously agreed.

Italian MEP Barbara Spinelli said: "I strongly welcome Ska Keller’s response to the Commission in this report. I would like to highlight, however, that I believe the Commission’s legal basis for this proposal is wrong."

"Pursuant to Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Council may adopt provisional measures – based on a proposal by the Commission – in the event of a sudden  inflow of migrants, whereas the Parliament is only consulted due to the urgency of the situation.

"The truth is that the proposal we are discussing today is in no way the result of a sudden situation of urgency. I am therefore convinced that the Parliament should have been involved following the normal co-decision procedure, as provided for by Article 78(2) of the aforementioned Treaty. It is a serious misstep to insist on the emergency nature of the present refugee influx in the Union."

Greek MEP, Kostas Chrysogonos, adds: "Today we are debating a change to the existing legal resettlement scheme between EU member states. However, we forget that this scheme has not been implemented and that Greece and Italy are almost alone in facing a pan-European problem."

Some 60,000 refugees are stranded in Greece and their establishment and living costs are mostly covered by the Greek state, which is at the same time called upon by the Union to respond to the huge weight of an excessively high public debt.

"The current Council Decision provides for 50,400 refugees to be relocated from Greece to the territory of other EU member states, but less than 3,000 relocations have been concluded because destination member states have raised various obstacles.

"All member states should immediately receive the refugees that have been allocated to them. If Europe wants to continue to exist, we need solidarity among its members," he concluded.

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