EU to propose emergency protection against massive migrant flows

The European Commission will propose an emergency framework to ​prevent sudden massive inflows of migrants, ‌Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

The framework is meant to ​offer protection in strictly defined ​situations against “engineered and weaponised” mass movements ⁠of migrants, von der Leyen ​said in her state of the union ​speech in Strasbourg.

“The events of this summer show that our tools need to evolve, ​especially for emergency situations. Europe ​needs the means to protect its borders at ‌all ⁠times,” von der Leyen said.

“We will always comply with our values and fundamental rights. But we will never ​compromise ​on protecting ⁠our borders.”

The new European Emergency Response Framework would be ​activated only under a strictly ​defined ⁠set of criteria and would allow “time-limited and strictly defined flexibility in standard ⁠procedures” ​in exceptional circumstances, she ​said.

Source:  Reuters