EU to provide 700 mln euros for faster crisis response

BRUSSELS - The member states of the European Union (EU) have agreed on an emergency support mechanism in response to the difficult humanitarian situation caused by the refugee crisis on Wednesday.

The new fund was expected to provide 700 million euros (768.09 million US dollars) over the next three years to EU countries whose own response capacities are overwhelmed by urgent and exceptional circumstances.

The EU said in a statement that the emergency support mechanism is aimed at meeting the basic needs of refugees by providing food, shelter, water, medicine and other necessities within the EU.

The estimated needs for 2016 are 300 million euros with a further 200 million euros each for use in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

The European Commission, EU's chief executive body, put forward the initiative on March 2. The proposal comes as the refugee crisis reaches an unprecedented scale with the need to provide immediate emergency support in several member states hosting large amounts of refugees on their territories.

"I strongly welcome the agreement of Member States who share our urgency to get emergency support where it's needed, such as in Greece, as soon as possible," European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides said on Wednesday.

Before the emergency support can be provided, the EU member states need to adopt the new regulation, which is expected to take place on 15 March 2016.

Meanwhile, EU's major institutions need to adopt a draft amending budget to mobilise the necessary resources from the 2016 EU budget.

"I now look forward to the European Parliament backing our proposal for an amending budget line, so that we can swiftly start providing funds in close cooperation with Member States, to key partners that can channel support to refugees in need," Stylianides added.

However, the EU stressed that the fund is not limited to providing assistance in the refugee crisis. It can also be mobilised in response to exceptional crises or disasters with severe humanitarian consequences, such as nuclear accidents, terrorist attacks and epidemics.

Europe was experiencing the worst migrant crisis after the Second World War. Greece, a front line country in the migrant crisis, was currently seeing some 2,000 refugees arriving on its shores each day.

In response to the refugee crisis within the EU, so far a number of other instruments, such as the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) the Internal Security Fund (ISF) or the European Fund for the Most Deprived (FEAD) have already been providing financial resources for assistance within Europe.

In addition, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM) has been used for mobilising material support such as shelter, hygiene material and medical supplies as well as expertise to support Hungary, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia in coping with the increased numbers of migrants.

The EU said these instruments have proven their use, but they were not designed to address large humanitarian-scale needs. The new fund therefore aimed at filling a gap - to have a more appropriate instrument available at union level for addressing humanitarian needs within the territory of the EU.