Report on the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/369 on the provision of emergency support within the Union

In 2015 and 2016, close to 1.1 million persons, who may be in need of international protection, and irregular migrants made their way to the European Union along the Eastern Mediterranean route. At the peak of the refugee crisis in summer 2015 10,000 migrants and refugees were arriving in Greece every day. This sudden influx created a humanitarian emergency within the EU.

While the EU has already established financial instruments to assist Member States in responding to different types of internal challenges and express solidarity with disaster-stricken regions, the exceptional scale of the refugee crisis demonstrated that none of them was fully suitable to address the wide-ranging humanitarian needs in the EU.

One aspect underlined in the Commission's Communication on the State of Play of Implementation of the Priority Actions under the European Agenda on Migration is the need for the EU to establish the capacity to provide humanitarian assistance within the EU in order to support Member States facing large numbers of refugees and migrants. A flexible financial tool with a quick response capacity based on European solidarity and the ability to mobilise existing expertise was needed.

In this context, on 19 February 2016 the European Council called on the Commission to 'put in place the capacity for the EU to provide humanitarian assistance internally, in cooperation with organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to support countries facing large numbers of refugees and migrants, building on the experience of the EU Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department'. On 2 March 2016, the Commission adopted its Proposal for a Council Regulation on the provision of emergency support within the Union. Regulation (EU) 2016/369 was adopted by the Council on 15 March 2016.

In accordance with Article 8(1) of the Regulation, this report aims to provide an overview of the key impact of the Instrument for emergency support within the Union (ESI) since its activation, an analysis of the main challenges encountered, and an outline of planned future activities.