During the EP plenary session in Strasbourg, the Council and the Commission express themselves on Migration and refugees in Europe.&nbsp;Statements by&nbsp;Nicolas SCHMIT, Minister for Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy of Luxembourg and Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the EC, Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.

SCHMIT, Nicolas (LU, EC)

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

MOGHERINI, Federica (IT, EC)

AVRAMOPOULOS, Dimitris (EL, EC)

Migration and refugees in Europe: extracts from the Council and Commission statements

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/20486331/I108180Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Minister for Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy of Luxembourg, <p>"I would like quite simply to remind what the President of the Commission said about these tens of thousands  of Europeans, these European citizens, who have shown a wave of solidarity, I think that this shows the capacity of Europe to work together. It also shows, to take the wonderful words from the Germans, this period of enlightenment, an enlightenment Europe, that we support, that we love and that we have to push forward."</p>

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Minister for Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy of Luxembourg , "During the past few months, the Heads of State and Government have looked at the complex challenge of migration and refugee status. They have quite properly called for the development of a comprehensive approach, concentrating on three key issues that have got to move forward in parallel; the localisation and the resettlement, the readmission and the reinsertion  and cooperation with the original countries."

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT,  Minister for Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy of Luxembourg , "I will not hide from you the differences that exit, we have different histories, different situations, different traditions between all of our Member States. But today we've also got a duty to get over the obstacles, to concentrate on what we share, and that what we share, I think is stronger."

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC, "I just want to use this opportunity where three institutions are coming together to talk about this issue, to call upon the EP to today strongly support the Commission's proposals, because that would be a clear signal in the preparation of the Council on Monday, where we know the Member States, a number of them, have a number of steps to take before they can agree with the Commission's proposal. The strongest the parliament can be today in coming out with its position, the better we are prepared for the Council on Monday."

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC, "We need to make a clear distinction between those who deserve our solidarity, because they flee from war and persecution, and those who might have genuine feelings about seeking a better future, but should not abuse the asylum system to attain that goal. And to do that we need a combination of solidarity and responsibility."

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC, "We need to respect the basic humanity that makes me so proud of being European."

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , "To be credible preaching well is not enough. We must act well, we must act fats, we must act united. Today, we present a communication setting the way forward for all the external action needed to address this crisis. We all know there's no quick magic fix to the crisis we have around us. And most of the external action that we can take and we are taking, are going to give results in the medium and long-term. Still, it is important that we do that now."

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , "First priority is saving lives. The President was outlining how much we've stepped up our in this respect, and how many lives it made possible to save. Second, address the root causes, and I'll come back to that. Third, as importnat, fight smugglers and traffickers of human being all along the routes, not only at sea."

SOUNDBITE (English), Federica MOGHERINI, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy , "What is at stake as Frans said very well is not only the lives of human beings, and only one single life is enough, but also the state of our union."

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS,  Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship , "To address this migratory we need a European coordinated approach. That is why we are now proposing to relocate 120,000 people fleeing war, persecution, opression and chaos. From Italy, Greece and Hungary, according to a distribution key."

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS,  Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship , "We need structural solutions to face such events in the future, so that we can systematically support Member States and guarantee protection for those who are really in need."