The European Commission has awarded €35 million to Sweden, €8 million to Finland and €5 million to Belgium in emergency funding to support these countries in managing the high influx of asylum seekers. The funding comes from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF).
European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Russian Minister for Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev could not come to a political agreement during the talks yesterday in Brussels on the practical solutions to Russia’s concerns related to the implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) between the EU and Ukraine.
On 21 December 2015, the Council prolonged EU economic sanctions against Russia until 31 July 2016. The sanctions were initially introduced for one year on 31 July 2014, in response to Russia’s actions in Eastern Ukraine.
Progress was made last night on the management of the refugee crisis, in particular on the protection of the EU’s external borders. The European Council notably agreed on the importance to protect Schengen as a major achievement of the European Union…
Over the past months, the European Council has developed a strategy aimed at stemming the unprecedented migratory flows Europe is facing. However, implementation is insufficient and has to be speeded up.
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, set out at the European Parliament plenary what can be expected at this week’s European Council (17-18 December).
“Raif Badawi was brave enough to raise his voice and say no to their barbarity. That is why they flogged him,” said Ensaf Haidar, the wife of jailed Saudi human rights activist Raif Badawi, accepting the 2015 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on his behalf in Strasbourg on Wednesday 16 December.
In September we crafted a comprehensive strategy how to deal with the migratory crisis, but its implementation is still lagging behind. We need to speed up on all fronts, including the protection of the EU’s external borders.
Today the Commission has published three Progress Reports on measures to tackle the refugee and migration crisis in Italy, Greece and along the Western Balkans Route.
Today European Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker, set out practical steps to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the euro, when he addressed the European Parliament on the future of Economic and Monetary Union.
