Facility for Refugees in Turkey: Commission proposes additional €1.4 billion in support
European Commission – Press release
Brussels, 30 June 2016
The European Commission has today proposed to mobilise an additional €1.4 billion in support for refugees in Turkey, with a view of raising the total amount allocated under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey to €2 billion by the end of July.

The proposed Special Measure, presented by the Commission today at the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Facility, will cover measures in the areas of education, health, municipal and social infrastructure and socio-economic support. The Commission also presented the recently published Humanitarian Implementation Plan for Turkey which sets out the humanitarian strategy under the Facility, with total funding of over €500 million, including contributions from Member States. This is the biggest Humanitarian Implementation Plan ever published by the Commission.

Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy & Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, said: “The Commission is committed to helping refugees and host communities in Turkey as quickly, efficiently and effectively as it can, in close cooperation with the Turkish authorities. The mobilisation of funding under the Facility is the most effective way to provide education and health care to refugees and support their host communities. The progress achieved to date shows that the European Union and Turkey are living up to their commitment to cooperate closely to improve the conditions for refugees in Turkey.”

Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Christos Stylianides, said: “The publication of the 2016 Humanitarian Implementation Plan for Turkey marks another step in the implementation of the EU humanitarian assistance under the Facility for a total amount of over €500 million. This unprecedented budget mirrors the humanitarian challenges in Turkey, which hosts the world’s largest refugee population; well over 3 million refugees. It reflects the ambition of the European Commission to address this difficult situation in a dignified, effective, cost-efficient and accountable manner, whilst remaining true to the humanitarian principles which guide our actions.”

The Steering Committee, gathering representatives from EU Member States and Turkey, under the chairmanship of the European Commission, today welcomed the progress achieved on the disbursement of support to refugees, which has been fast-tracked during the past months. Out of the total €3 billion, €740 million has so far been allocated in total, for both humanitarian and non-humanitarian assistance. Of this €740 million, €150 million has been contracted, of which €105 million has so far been disbursed.

The Steering Committee also discussed in detail an ambitious pipeline of projects to be funded under the Facility for Refugees in support of education, health, municipal and social infrastructure, and socio-economic support for refugees and host communities in Turkey. Subject to EU Member States’ approval, this Special Measure will be implemented in cooperation with the relevant Turkish authorities, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis.

The Commission presented to the Steering Committee the humanitarian strategy under the Facility which aims at responding to the basic needs of up to 1 million refugees through the implementation of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) – an electronic card which will allow the most vulnerable refugees to receive monthly transfers to meet their needs in terms of, for example, food and shelter.

Hand-in-hand with this flagship initiative, the European Commission also presented its robust protection framework as well as its strategy regarding health and non-formal education activities which will be carried out in complementarity of longer-term initiatives. A buffer of funding will also be foreseen in order to swiftly respond to urgent and unexpected humanitarian needs. The activities under the Humanitarian Implementation Plan will be rolled out from the end of July 2016.

As a result, the European Commission is on track to reach the target of committing more than €2 billion of the €3 billion Facility envelope for 2016-2017 before the end of the summer 2016.
Background

The Facility for Refugees in Turkey is the answer to the European Council’s call for significant additional funding to support refugees in Turkey. The Facility provides a joint coordination mechanism for actions financed by the EU budget and national contributions made by the Member States, designed to ensure that the needs of refugees and host communities are addressed in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

Funding under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey supports refugees in the country – it is funding for refugees and not funding for Turkey. The support seeks to improve conditions for refugees in Turkey as part of the EU’s comprehensive approach to addressing the refugee crisis inside and outside the EU.

The Facility has a budget of €3 billion for 2016-2017. This is made up of €1 billion from the EU budget, and €2 billion from the EU Member States. All Member States have sent in their contribution certificates for the €2 billion they pledged.
For more information:
Details on projects funded under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/news_corner/migration/index_en.htm

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Commission brings together non-confessional organisations to discuss “Migration, integration and European values: putting values into action”
European Commission – Press release Brussels, 30 June 2016
Today, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans hosted a high-level meeting with ten representatives from philosophical and non-confessional organisations from across Europe to discuss “Migration, integration and European values: putting values into action”

Today, European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans hosted a high-level meeting with ten representatives from philosophical and non-confessional organisations from across Europe. This seventh annual high-level meeting discussed the topic “Migration, integration and European values: putting values into action”. The meeting took place within the framework of the ongoing dialogue with churches, religions, philosophical and non-confessional organisations based on Article 17 of the Lisbon Treaty.

First Vice-President Timmermans said: “At a time when European societies are marked by a sense of crisis, it is essential to put our values into action. Nowhere is this discussion more relevant than with regards to migration and integration. Values cannot be imposed, they must be passed on and embraced across generations and communities, and we need to find concrete ways to achieve this. Because of their engagement in their respective communities, non-confessional organisations are among those who can provide concrete ideas to move this discussion forward.”

The high-level meeting provided a platform to discuss three main issues: how to improve integration policies; how to address the rise of populism and intolerance; and, how to build more cohesive societies. Today’s discussion focused in particular on addressing fears and increased polarisation in our societies, and the need to move beyond the crisis mode when it comes to migration and think long-term. The need for proactively transmitting values and cultural understanding was underlined, as well as the central role of education. It was agreed that this is a challenge for society at large and that concrete ways to convey values in practice must be developed. The organisations present will continue to work with the Commission to develop these ideas.

Background
Today’s high level meeting with representatives of philosophical and non-confessional organisation is the seventh in the series of meetings launched by the Commission in 2009 when the dialogue with churches, religions, philosophical and non-confessional organisations was enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty (Art 17 TFEU). The dialogue is under the responsibility of First Vice-President Timmermans.

The Commission will hold its annual meeting with religious leaders on 29 November 2016.
On 7 June 2016, the Commission adopted an Integration Action Plan for Third-Country Nationals outlining a set of actions ranging from education to non-discrimination and social inclusion. The Commission puts a particular emphasis on promoting inclusive education and common EU values as well as reaching out to young people.

The Commission has taken a number of steps to implement the Paris Declaration on promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education, adopted on 17 March 2015. The Commission will propose a Council Recommendation establishing a policy framework on promoting inclusion and fundamental values through education. In 2016, the Erasmus+ programme is making more than €400 million available to transnational partnerships to develop innovative policy approaches andpractices at grassroots level. Under the Europe for Citizens Programme 2014-2020, the Commission co-finances projects raising awareness of EU values, notably tolerance, mutual respect, and promoting civil society engagement. The Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020 supports projects focusing on preventing and combating racist and xenophobic hatred and intolerance, as well as projects promoting the development of tools and practices to prevent, monitor and combat online hate speech, including through the development of positive counter-narratives.