Refugee crisis: Commission welcomes Member States’ agreement on Emergency Assistance instrument for faster crisis response within the EU

 The European Commission welcomed yesterday the fast agreement Member States reached on its proposal for an Emergency Assistance instrument to provide faster means of support to EU countries facing major humanitarian crises, such as dealing with large numbers of refugees. The positive support came just one week after the Commission put forward the proposal to provide €700 million over the next three years to Member States whose own response capacities are overwhelmed by urgent and exceptional circumstances. A press release and a fact sheet are available online, as well as the Proposal for a Council Regulation on the provision of emergency support within the Union, the Communication of the Commission and a Visual factsheet.