European Commission proposes fines for non-compliance with refugee policy
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.05.2016 14:45
EU member states that refuse to accept their share of asylum-seekers could face huge fines, under new proposals by the European Commission.
Children play outside their tents at a makeshift refugee camp at the port of Piraeus, Greece, 01 May 2016. Over 54,000 refugees and migrants remain in the Greek territory after some European countries closed their borders to the migration flow last month. EPA/SIMELA PANTZARTZI
According to the plan, asylum-seekers are still legally bound to claim asylum in the first EU state that they arrive in.
However, under the new proposals, if a given country is inundated with over 150 percent of what is deemed to be its annual fair share, a mechanism would kick in obliging other states to take in a proportion of the new arrivals.
The programme supplements an already agreed EU policy to resettle 160,000 refugees and migrants.
Poland is due to accept 7,000 asylum-seekers, and likewise if it reneges on this, the country could be fined EUR 250,000 per person.
The Polish government has wavered on the issue in recent months, on one occasion stating that the intake of refugees would be stalled, and later indicating the process was open again. (nh/pk)