Last year, South Africa alone received 180,000 asylum applications. The 27 EU Member States combined only accepted 260,000 in the same year. Although we hear much talk about solidarity in asylum matters, there is a lack of concrete measures. We see this clearly when we look at how the reception of asylum seekers in Europe is divided. During the first half of this year 75% of all asylum applications in Europe were made in six countries: France, Germany, Belgium, UK, Sweden and Italy. This means that there are 21 EU Member States that could take a lot more responsibility.
Today I have therefore presented a proposal on how we can encourage more European countries to show solidarity. Notably this will be achieved by giving the Member States the opportunity to receive financial assistance for accepting refugees, but it will also work to strengthen the Asylum Support Office, EASO, so they can provide skilled personnel to assist in the handling of refugee claims. Special funds will be available to support countries that wish to receive refugees and we hope that the current relocation program from Malta to other EU countries can be made permanent. We are now also negotiating the final parts of the common European asylum system package to be completed next year. When this is then in place, the countries that currently lack a system for asylum reception will be obliged to build one. You can read more about the proposal I presented today.
Otherwise, I have devoted the day to reading the speeches of Merkel and Sarkozy, ahead of the summit next week.
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