Refugee fund row puts hand-outs at risk

Date: 08/06/2000

By John Shelley

EU GOVERNMENTS risk losing millions of euro from Union coffers promised to help them bear the cost of accepting refugees because of a dispute over how the money should be shared out.

European Commission officials are warning that €36 million earmarked for this year from the planned refugee fund may never reach those who need it because member states are unable to agree on how much each country should get.

The money is the first slice of a planned five-year programme drawn up by the Commission in response to calls from Union leaders at their special justice and home affairs summit in Tampere last October.

But at a ministerial meeting last week, member states once again failed to decide how the total €216 million budget for the fund should be distributed, leaving them with little time to reach an agreement before they are forced to forfeit this year's cash. "A meeting of ministers in September really will be the last chance for an agreement otherwise the whole programme will be messed up," said one official.

The Commission originally proposed that the money should be distributed to member states on the basis of how many displaced persons they had.

But countries with few refugees have objected to this approach, arguing that they need cash to build up their reception facilities in case they are asked to take more at a later date. Others insist that the money should be distributed according to the proportion of refugees in the population rather than being based on a flat number.

The Netherlands has tabled a compromise proposal under which EU countries with a low number of refugees would get extra cash for the first three years, but diplomats say some governments are determined to continue pushing for the most generous allocation possible. "Some member states are thinking 'let's get the most we can out of this fund and to hell with the fact that we will lose the money for 2000'," said one.

The fund is intended to provide cash for reception centres for asylum seekers and to help refugees return to their country of origin if and when they wish to do so.

But it is not only the allocation of funding which is causing problems. Arguments are also expected over the emergency procedures for mass influxes of refugees. A total of €10 million from the fund has been earmarked for such 'temporary protection' measures, but member states disagree over how more money could be found in a grave crisis.

Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner António Vitorino told MEPs earlier this week that it should be possible to deal with this issue separately and get agreement on money for the refugee fund without finalising all the details of the temporary protection arrangements.

EU governments risk losing millions of euro from Union coffers promised to help them bear the cost of accepting refugees because of a dispute over how the money should be shared out.