Tag Archives: EU
10 March 2015
The European Commission is expected to present a new policy paper on boat migration in the Mediterranean in which it proposes the establishment of third country processing centres in key transit countries. The intended centres would be used to process applications for asylum and refugee status and would be located in countries, such as Niger, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon. (more…)
Source: The Guardian | Brussels plans migration centres outside EU to process asylum applications
11 February 2015
Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission in the Juncker Commission, said on 10 February 2015 that: ‘We cannot allow other tragedies at sea in the coming weeks and months; we need to be able to give a strong political and operational response … I will convene an extraordinary meeting of the Commissioners’ Group on External Action in the coming days in order to discuss with the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, a review of our policies. I’ve also decided to put a discussion on migration on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council soon. The fight against smuggling and trafficking, the rescue of migrants at sea, the protection of asylum seekers are shared challenges; they require a stronger exercise of shared responsibility.’
Source: EU External Action | Statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini on addressing the challenges of migration | Strasbourg, 10/02/2015
11 February 2015
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has urged European nations to ramp up search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea following the region’s first major maritime tragedy this year in which dozens of people perished, apparently from hypothermia. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | UN calls for boosted search, rescue efforts as migrants die of hypothermia in Mediterranean
30 January 2015
On 27 January, 28 EU leaders, including heads of state and foreign ministers, issued a joint statement in response to the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine. (more…)
Source: The Wall Street Journal | EU Foreign Ministers Extend Targeted Sanctions on Russia
Source: The Economic Times | EU leaders threaten new Russia sanctions over Ukraine
20 December 2014
On 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘ECJ’) delivered a negative opinion on the draft agreement on the accession of the European Union (‘EU’) to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (‘ECHR’). Insisting that ‘accession must take into account the particular characteristics of the EU’, it stated that EU’s accession to the ECHR under the provisions of the current draft agreement would undermine the autonomy and primacy of EU law. (more…)
Source: Court of Justice of the European Union - Press Release No 180/14