MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The 2016 EU budget does not provide the required amount of funds to support other countries in preventing an influx of refugees from their territory to the bloc, head of the Budget Committee of the European Parliament Jean Arthuis said Tuesday.
"The 2016 budget clearly does not have the necessary resources to respond to the root causes of migration challenges that Europe faces," Arthuis said, as quoted by the press service of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said earlier on Tuesday, speaking of the refugee crisis, that "exceptional situation requires exceptional budget."
"These are beautiful words, but now we are waiting for action," Arthuis said.
EU member states have delayed signing an agreement to allocate 2.3 billion euro ($2.5 billion) to refugees and their host countries for over a month, the Budget Committee head said.
"Accordingly, there’s a huge lack [of funds]."
Europe has been struggling to manage an enormous refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing to Europe to escape violence and poverty in their home countries. Over 710,000 migrants arrived in the European Union during the first nine months of 2015, according to the EU border agency Frontex.
Last week, Brussels pledged up to $3.4 billion in aid for Turkey in exchange for its cooperation in stemming the unprecedented flow of migrants into Europe.
