During the plenary session of September in Brussels MEPs debate&nbsp;on the Conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on migration. Statements by Jean ASSELBORN, President of the Council, Frans TIMMERMANS, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional, Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.

Brussels

debate

plenary session

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

AVRAMOPOULOS, Dimitris (EL, EC)

ASSELBORN, Jean (LU)

Conclusions of the Justice and Home Affairs Council on migration: extracts from the opening statements

External shot of the European Parliament in Brussels.

SOUNDBITE (French), Jean ASSELBORN, Luxembourgish Presidency, "Since a majority of member states has shown their will, and in order to move forward with the resettlement of refugees, the Council will meet already on tuesday, 22 September, to discuss the resettlement of 120,000 people. The negotiations will not be easy".

SOUNDBITE (French), Jean ASSELBORN, Luxembourgish Presidency, "Hungary doesn't consider itself as a frontline country and has informed us that they do not want to benefit from the resettlement scheme".

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, "Winter is coming, quite literally, but winter might also be coming metaphorically for the European Union if we are incapable of action in the next couple of days and weeks".

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, "This issue, left unresolved, will undoubtedly lead to human suffering for the refugees, to political turmoil in our member states, to strive between member states and to tensions which Europe cannot afford to have. So we have a strong, strong responsibility".

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, "I want to express my gratitude to the European Parliament for having organised a vote - the President of the European Parliament - which will send a clear signal to all member states, to all capitals that the parliament that represents the peoples of Europe wants action and it wants it now".

SOUNDBITE (English), Frans TIMMERMANS, First Vice-President of the EC in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, <p>"Please explain to your constituents and to your people back home that our proposals are not just about a distribution key to express solidarity with those states who are really suffering today. They're also about the European Union being able to really better guard its external borders, the European Union being able to offer more support to those states who bear the brunt oft his crisis".</p>

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, "The debate on the refugee crisis is often related with fake dangers and fears. This is something that we all, politicians, need to address".

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, "Safeguarding our citizens' freedom of movement also requires ensuring there's security by protecting our external borders. At the same time, we need to fulfill our humanitarian obligations and respect the international law, when it comes to asylum seekers".

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, (on the extraordinary JAI council on 22 September) "We cannot fail on this. It will be a crucial meeting and the Commission is ready to provide full support to enable decissions on the files. The objective of the Commission is to preserve the unity of Europe".

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, "For the emergency relocation mechanism your positive opinion sends a strong political signal, the same strong political signal that you send today, ahead of the extraordinary council of Justice and Home Affairs council, by deciding to adopt the opinion on the relocation of 120,000 in fast-track procedure".

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, "These people will not be stopped by any cold sea, any fence, any army. They will just risk and find ways to cross borders in order to find a safe shelter for them and their children".