Meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in Brussels. Presentation by Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship of the implementation of current measures and of the border coast guard package adopted on 15 December 2015. Statements by Anna Maria CORAZZA BILDT (EPP, SE), Nathalie GRIESBECK (ALDE, FR), Cornelia ERNST (GUE/NGL, DE) and Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

GRIESBECK, Nathalie (ALDE, FR)

AVRAMOPOULOS, Dimitris (EL, EC)

CORAZZA BILDT, Anna Maria (EPP, SE)

surveillance of the external borders of the EU (T)

ERNST, Cornelia (The Left, DE)

Presentation of the implementation of current measures and of the border coast guard package adopted on 15 December 2015 by Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship - LIBE Committee

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, We have to be realistic and honest. The situation is getting worse. This year we had no Winter break; 3000 to 4000 arrivals every day in Greece over the Christmas and New Year period. More and more member states are reintroducing internal border controls.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, We have seriously stepped up our dialogue and cooperation with the main countries of origin and transit. With Turkey, there is an agreement on an EU-Turkey joint action plan. While we cannot be satisfied yet with the speed of implementation on the action plan, we are continuing our cooperation with our Turkish partners in order to stem the flows.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Europe will provide protection for those who need it, but those who have no right to be here, have to be returned.

SOUNDBITE (English), Anna Maria CORAZZA BILDT (EPP, SE), The President of the Commission Mr Juncker said that there would be a flexible interpretation of the Stability Pact for the member states that are showing more willingness to solidarity; what happens with countries like Sweden that are not members of the Eurozone? How are we going to look at this possible discrimination on the support that the Commission is giving?

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, The Commission as you know already recognises the different situation of Sweden and has proposed to suspend relocation in Sweden; I was there, I saw the situation on the ground and I fully understand the arguments of the Swedish government.

SOUNDBITE (French), Nathalie GRIESBECK (ALDE, FR), Concerning the budget, we hear about 300 million euro but do you think that is going to be enough, given that ere are 15,000 km of border, especially for your country? To make a comparison, it is the same budget allocated for the European programme on fruits and vegetables in schools.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, The European Union&rsquo;s budget, but also member states, have to contribute; this must be a joint effort, unless you, as budget authority, agree to increase the budget.

SOUNDBITE (German), Cornelia ERNST (GUE/NGL, DE), What do you have to say about the new asylum law in Denmark? Have you ever spoken out on the subject? Under that law, items of value are going to be confiscated from refugees so that those items of value can be sold in order to provide assistance to refugees. There is a debate in Denmark about whether refugees can keep their wedding rings or not!

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, We are monitoring the situation and we will examine the legislation and officially respond to Denmark once the law is adopted. Member States, even those that, like Denmark, are not bound by the relevant EU asylum legislation, have a responsibility to welcome asylum seekers in a dignified manner and ensure that they are treated fairly.

SOUNDBITE (English), Dimitris AVRAMOPOULOS, Member of the EC in charge of Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, (On Cologne&rsquo;s attacks to women) Let&rsquo;s avoid making amalgams of migrants or refugees with criminals and terrorists. If it is the case, they will be treated as such. The ones who perpetrated these horrible and appalling acts must be judged and put in prison if authorities can&rsquo;t send them back. But it is good to avoid generalising, it&rsquo;s a very critical period and I understand you agree with me that we must all be very careful. I believe that the authorities in Germany will clarify the situation and let&rsquo;s hope that we are not going to have phenomena like these in the future.