During the EP plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the Humanitarian situation of refugees within the EU and neighbouring countries.&nbsp;Statements by Nicolas SCHMIT, Luxembourgish Presidency, and 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

SCHMIT, Nicolas (LU, EC)

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

TIMMERMANS, Frans (NL, EC)

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

Humanitarian situation of refugees within the EU and neighbouring countries: extracts from the Council and Commission statements

Flags before the European Parliament in Strasbourg (1 shot)

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Luxembourgish Presidency, "We are mobilising the necessary resources to be able to refinance the humanitarian organisations that are active on the ground, such as the UNHCR and the World Food Programme to better respond to the needs of refugees living in the neighbourhood of their places of origin".

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Luxembourgish Presidency, &ldquo;I am satisfied that the first hotspots are already operational and I am told that some more will be ready soon&rdquo;.

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Luxembourgish Presidency, "We also support humanitarian aid to the refugees trying to find shelter in the EU, when crossing from the Southern Mediterranean, in particular from Libya. In this case I would like to underline that we are expecting very concrete results with our partners at the summit of Valetta".

SOUNDBITE (French), Nicolas SCHMIT, Luxembourgish Presidency, "We are actively engaged in mobilising member states and key partners to obtain the objective of doubling the contribution coming from the EU budget to up to 1 extra billion to support the humanitarian organisations engaged in this crisis&rdquo;.

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>&ldquo;We are all put to the test. We are faced with what is arguably the biggest challenge to Europe in a generation. What is put to the test is our capacity to handle a huge humanitarian crisis, what is put to the test is our capacity to understand that there will only be solutions at a European leves, what is put to the test is the very fabric of our European Union&rdquo;.</p>

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, "So my hope is that those in this House who now reject everything we do, once they'll understand that we are actually dealing with a majority of real refugees, they will see the fallacy of their ways and come to the conclusion that there are only European solutions here".

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, "Responsible politics, in this situation, is not to cater to fear, not to create stereotypes, not to put people in groups, but to come up with solutions to a problem, instead of just increasing people's fears in the hope that it will provide you more votes in the next election&rdquo;.

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>&ldquo;Member states need to be able to trust other member states that they will do their part. This is the core issue here, that member states, so-called frontline member states will do their part at making sure our external borders are better controlled, that people who arrive are immediately fingerprinted and that those member states who are not frontline states will do their part in showing their solidarity&rdquo;.</p>

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, "We now how and certainly we can winterproof the refugee camps: the tents, the reception centres, but we can't winterproof masses of people on the move".

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 hope that one billion, that people understand that one billion funding is not too much to ask for humanitarian aid".