The European Commission assured this Tuesday that it will evaluate as quickly as possible the Spanish request for emergency assistance funding due to the Ceuta migration crisis, after receiving the formal request the day before from the central Government.
“Yesterday we received the formal request for emergency funding and we are now working to prioritize the evaluation of this request in order to make a quick decision,” confirmed a Commission spokesperson at a press conference. Although they did not want to set deadlines for the final decision, they made it clear that the Spanish request is at the top of the European Executive’s task list. “This is a priority for us and we are working on it quickly,” they insisted, noting that both Brussels and the other Member States have a strong interest in resolving the migration crisis in Ceuta as soon as possible.
Emergency assistance (EMAS) is financial aid that is part of the EU Asylum and Migration Pact, which came fully into force in mid-June. It can be activated, following a formal request from the Member State and the subsequent evaluation of the situation by the Commission, when a country faces very high migratory pressure that it cannot cover with its normal budget.
Among other things, the Spanish emergency aid request, the amount of which Brussels also does not want to specify and refers to Madrid, includes measures to strengthen border protection and security-related infrastructure, as well as to establish an “adequate reception capacity, including for unaccompanied minors,” the spokesperson indicated.
Brussels does not miss the opportunity to emphasize the need to fulfill the commitment made by Spain and Morocco and that “all” of the up to 80,000 migrants who entered Ceuta irregularly almost a month ago return. At the same time, however, it has also stressed Spain’s “duty” to “guarantee the protection of vulnerable minors” who also entered massively, especially during the first wave at the end of July, and of whom at least several hundred refuse to return voluntarily.
Despite the urgency with which the European Commission wants to see the resolution of a crisis that it “follows very closely” and which has provoked harsh criticism from about twenty countries towards Spain within the framework of a tightening of migration policy in much of a Europe approaching a key election year, Brussels says it values bilateral efforts with Morocco.
“The situation is different from earlier this month,” the Commission spokesperson highlighted this Tuesday, referring to the fact that “new attempts [of irregular entries] have been successfully prevented, thanks to good cooperation between Spanish and Moroccan authorities and the steps taken to address the situation in Ceuta.” However, they recalled, “significant challenges remain that must be urgently resolved (…) in particular the thousands [of people who entered irregularly] who remain in Ceuta. The priority remains to ensure the rapid return of all those still illegally in Ceuta,” they concluded.
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