In a letter addressed to Donald Tusk, Jean Asselborn informs the President of the European Council about the progress made by the JHA Council in the management of the migrant and refugee crisis
In view of the European Council to be held on 15 and 16 October 2015 in Brussels, Jean Asselborn, the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Minister for Asylum and Immigration, sent a letter to Donald Tusk i, President of the European Council. In this letter, he informs Donald Tusk on the progress made by the "Justice and Home Affairs" Council (JHA), which he presides, in the management of the migrant and refugee crisis since the informal meeting of the European Council on 23 September 2015.
In the letter, which we are publishing in its entirety, Jean Asselborn outlines the different stages in reaching an agreement on an emergency relocation mechanism for a total of 160,000 asylum seekers from Italy and Greece. A first agreement had been reached on 20 July 2015 on the relocation of 40,000 people in need of international protection, as well as on the resettlement of more than 20,000 refugees located outside of Europe.
During the extraordinary meeting on 14 September 2015, the JHA Council formally approved the resettlement of 40,000 people and reached an "agreement in principle" on the emergency relocation of 120,000 additional refugees from Greece, Hungary and Italy. Conclusions on the establishment of a common EU list of safe countries of origin were also adopted.
During the second extraordinary meeting on 22 September 2015 of the JHA Council, the Ministers adopted by qualified majority the emergency relocation mechanism for 120,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. Hungary has refused to participate in the mechanism.
During the last JHA Council on 8 October 2015, the Ministers adopted conclusions regarding return and readmission policies, aiming to improve the efficiency of the EU's return policy and underlined the importance of strengthening the FRONTEX agency's mandate.
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