Finally! The European Commission is considering to impose “sanctions”, that is radical measures in form of financial fines to EU member states that refuse to accept refugees on the context of relocation scheme and the EU Turkey deal. As majority of EU member states refuse to comply with the agreement they have agreed upon in November 2015 and March 2016, Brussels will allegedly propose to make countries that decline to share the burden of Migration pay €250,000 per refugee.
According to Financial Times, European countries that refuse to share the burden of high immigration will face a financial charge of about €250,000 per refugee, according to Brussels’ plans to overhaul the bloc’s asylum rules. Citing “EU officials” the newspaper notes that “the punitive financial pay-off clause is one of the most contentious parts of the European Commission’s proposed revision of the so-called Dublin asylum regulation,” due to be revealed on Wednesday.
The fine “represents the EU’s most concerted attempt to salvage an asylum system that collapsed under the weight of a million-strong migration to Europe last year, endangering the principle of passport-free travel in the Schengen area.”
In recent weeks migrant flows to Greece have fallen due to tighter controls through the western Balkans and a deal with Turkey to send-back asylum seekers arriving on Greek islands. However, the EU remains as politically divided as ever over strengthening the bloc’s asylum rules.
“While acknowledging these political constraints, the commission’s reforms aim to gradually shift more responsibility away from the overwhelmed frontline states, such as Greece, in future crises, primarily through an automatic system to share refugees across Europe if a country faces a sudden influx.
Crucially, this is backed by a clause that allows immigration-wary countries to pay a fee — set at a deliberately high level — if they want to avoid taking relocated asylum seekers for a temporary period.
According to four people familiar with the proposal, this contribution was set at €250,000 per asylum seeker in Monday’s commission draft. But those involved in the talks say it may well be adjusted in deliberations over coming days.
“The size of the contribution may change but the idea is to make it appear like a sanction,” said one official who has seen the proposal. Another diplomat said in any event the price of refusing to host a refugee would be “hundreds of thousands of euros”.
The size of the contribution may change but the idea is to make it appear like a sanction
Eastern European states such as Poland and Hungary would welcome alternatives to mandatory asylum quotas but will balk at the high penalties suggested. At the commission’s recommended rate, Poland would need to pay around €1.5bn to avoid its existing 6,200 quota to relocate refugees from Italy and Greece. (full article FinancialTimes)
The talkative “EU officials” did not reveal, however, who will receive the fines and whether the money would be
- distributed to Greece and Italy as compensation for the refugees trapped in these two countries or
- given to EC that would channel it to Greece, Italy via the NGO’s that help the refugees and to Turkey or
- a credit on the spreed sheets the fined countries receive in form of EU Structural Funds
End of February, the Greek government and President Prokopis Pavlopouos had repeatedly said that sanctions should be imposed to EU member states that refuse to comply Eu rules and decisions, targeting EU member states that were closing border to Refugees. Reality was quicker than Greece: EUleaders adopted the borders closure. during the EU Turkey deal talks, Athens failed to table a sanctions proposal for those EU states refusing to comply with the relocation scheme.
But I would well imagine, that EC president Jean-Claude Juncker kept th ‘sanctions idea’ in his sleeve as he wanted to check first whether his relocation scheme and the other nice things the EU leaders had approved would work in the real world. They did not. Neither did the 1:1 quota of Syrian refugees from the Greek islands to Turkey and from Turkey to EU countries. Ankara said recently that it had received 20 Syrian refugees form the Greek islands, refugees who had arrived after March 20th 2016, when the EU Turkey deal went into effect.
Furthermore, according to the EU Turkey deal, EU members should have relocated 6,000 refugees per month from Greece alone.
Given the slow pace of EU member states to supply Greece with personnel that would accelerate the asylum procedures, I suppose the EC would do well to fine the Eu states that have not done so. Charge each member state with at least €10,000 per policeman, judge, translator and administrative personnel that has not be sent to Greece.
Unfortunately, I think t’s simply more window dressing. After all, this is the same EU Commission that, for the sake of political expediency, is relaxing its rules to approve visa-free travel for Turkish citizens even though Ankara is falling short of the political and technical conditions on border control and passports set out in the agreement. They will pass legislation to fine member states that refuse to accept refugees; trumpet that very loud and very publicly. And very privately nothing more will be done about it and the refugees will stay in Greece.
Greece can issue refugee-passports so everybody can travel free in Schengen.
Visa free travel is also part of being associated to EU
There is no such thing as a refugee passport. There is a UN travel document, which is available only to refugees with 1951 Convention status, and even then they have problems getting the document.
Moreover, the latest proposals from the European Commission intend to restrict travel even by fully recognised refugees, with penalties such as when you move EU country your acquired rights (such as the EU longterm permit given after 5 years) will be lost, and you have to start again.
No, Europe is determined to punish refugees and keep them out of the whole EU. It has become a continent of barely disguised fascism — as Greeks know from the disgusting behaviour of the eurozone fascists.
there are still the “laissez passe” travel documents but they are for stateless I think
So who is their bill collector? How are they going to collect the fines? Perhaps by reducing EU subsidies to countries that don’t comply?
This is going to piss off some countries.
that’s what I thought too: cut EU structural funds. – not real money lol
We will see how well that will go down in European countries. Perhaps the refusing countries will take the bitter pill and not pay up. Perhaps they will give in, also a bitter pill to swallow. Either way it will create bad sentiment. The EU only has itself to blame for this. They acted too late. But perhaps that was all part of the plan cause never let a good crisis (Euro crisis, migrant crisis, security crisis) go to waste. But it is a dangerous game they are playing only to have a dream of empire come through.
Too lame, as not possible before 2020
Funny how you dont understand the way politics is being made 🙂 From the beginning of the “refugee” crisis Slovakia, for example, has repeatedly claimed it is willing to compensate by personnel and money for our unwillingness to accept migrants. The problem was the “other side” didnt want to accept such a principle. If thats the outcome now that the “unwilling” countries could buy themselves out, then the deal is almost done. Of course EC can forget the 250.000 fee, it will have to go down substantially or there will be no deal.
All of what I just wrote comes into effect only if there is no other “hook” in it. Well, we will see…oh yeah, and you can call it sanction or whatever (just a matter of narrative).
Yes, it’s a very nice idea from the Communist bloc that they don’t have to obey European laws, but would be prepared to pay a small fine. Here’s another idea: they can just leave the EU, and join up with Putin.
in their mind ‘small fine’ is smthing like: traffic fine 40 euro, refugee fine 35 euro
Slovakia offered 100 policemen to Frontex and since Jan 1st, 2016 a special mobile police unit designated “Hrad” (castle) is in stand-by modus (300 men). If every european country would follow such contributions (per quota, hehe) then there would be several thousands perhaps even tens of thousands personal to protect european borders. Add to this the fact we are willing to increase our financial support for various development project. Well, I really dont think it is not enough. Shortly to your “comrade” up above: It is Greece (not Slovakia) periodically courtesing V. Putin. At the end of may he should arrive into Greece due to some bilateral discussions above gas and privatisation. We on the other hand have just recently engaged into a high level diplomatic war both with Russia and Germany (problem: Nord Stream II). So, who is the “putinist” here???
Why should anyone protect borders the EU still refuses to give any guarantee for because some tens of thousand greedy bastards’ jobs in Saugosch’s weapons industries are more important than peace between Greece and Turkey?
Anyway your special forces are a fake as this is no job for police but military.
How’s about the EU give an unconditional €250,000 to Greece each year for each refugee stuck in Greece?
:)))
There is another problem with the scheme in that it creates a two-tier Europe. Those with money can simply pay in order not to deal with what ought to be binding on all members of the EU. Those without money will not have that luxury. This set a very bad precedent. It basically says that in a union of theoretical equals, those with money are in fact more equal than those without money. And once you’ve set that up as a precedent, where will it stop? Let say, the EU mandates GMO production throughout Europe, will we then allow some states to “pay” their way out of participating thereby offloading the problem to Europe’s poorest members? Better than fining member states for non-compliance, why not say that for every refugee a member state refuses to accept, one of its own citizen can no longer travel visa-free in Europe and the cost of caring for that refugee comes out of that country’s structural funds.