European aid commissioner says proposal will allow aid to be delivered faster, with much of the money destined for Greece

Greece and other countries struggling to cope with a massive influx of refugees will receive hundreds of millions in extra EU funding for emergency aid under plans declared in Brussels.

The European commissioner for humanitarian aid, Christos Stylianides, said on Wednesday that €700m (£544m) would be spent over three years on helping refugees.

The UN refugee agency had warned on Tuesday that Europe stood on the verge of a “largely self-induced humanitarian crisis”, while NGOs condemned the failure to get to grips with the unfolding emergency.

Stylianides said the plan meant the EU would be able to deliver emergency aid much faster than before, including food, emergency healthcare, shelter and clean water. “The new instrument will reduce humanitarian suffering for refugees in Europe,” he said.

“But we should have no illusions. To bring a sustainable solution to this crisis we must address its root cause in the countries of origin,” he added, naming Syria and Iraq. “These are extraordinary times, we need to step up our efforts to avoid a further deterioration of the situation.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Refugees at the port of Piraeus near Athens on Wednesday. Photograph: Yannis Kolesidis/EPA

The commission, which controls an annual €1.1bn humanitarian aid budget, insisted no money would be diverted from needy countries around the world.



Much of the new money is likely to end up in Greece, as EU leaders scramble to help Athens deal with the crisis, with more than 24,000 refugees in need of permanent shelter and 2,000 people arriving on the country’s shores each day.

Stylianides said the money would go “wherever the needs are greatest”, although no specific sum has been allocated for Greece. The UN and NGOs, such as the Red Cross, will be invited to apply for funds and manage aid projects in countries dealing with the refugee crisis.

The European council president, Donald Tusk, has described helping Greece as “a test of our Europeanness”. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has called for “decisive action” to deal with the situation.



The funds will not be available immediately, as EU member states and the European parliament must sign off on the money. But if agreed, €300m will be available in 2016, with two instalments of €200m to follow in 2017 and 2018 – a sign EU authorities are not expecting refugee numbers to abate anytime soon.



Some of the money will come from existing EU migration funds, although details have been worked out. EU officials expect to revise budgets within the next fortnight, with the aim of distributing food and shelter “within a few weeks … not months”, said one.

The plans mark a big step-up in EU humanitarian aid within its borders. Before the latest announcement, the EU had spent €22m on humanitarian aid for refugees in western Balkan countries, as well as providing tents, blankets, medical equipment and other ‘in-kind’ support. Greece, Croatia, Slovenia and non-EU Serbia have called on the EU’s civil protection mechanism, which has led to 15 member states flying in emergency supplies for refugees.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest More than 1,000 migrants and refugees arrived at an overcrowded shelter area in Piraeus on Tuesday. Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

There has been a flurry of diplomatic activity as the EU prepares for an emergency summit with Turkey on Monday, aimed at finding ways to reduce the number of refugees arriving in Europe.



Europe’s hopes of getting more help from Ankara were boosted on Wednesday, when Turkey’s foreign ministry said it had offered to sign readmission agreements with 14 countries, meaning it would take back refugees rejected by the EU. On Wednesday 380 people deemed not to have a valid asylum claim were in the process of being sent back to Turkey from Greece.

The EU has signed a €3bn aid deal with Turkey to help it shelter refugees, in return for Ankara preventing them travelling on to Europe. But the EU spent weeks bickering over where to find the money, further straining relations with Turkey, which were already difficult after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to put refugees on planes and buses bound for Europe.

With refugee numbers expected to rise over the warmer months of the spring and summer, Brussels is gripped by growing alarm that temporary border checks could become permanent. A leaked report to be published on Friday reveals that the commission is deeply concerned the 26-nation Schengen passport-free zone, “the EU’s crowning achievement” is at risk. The commission wants to end all internal border controls by the end of the year.