The credibility of the
European Council is at stake if EU member states do not honour
their commitments concerning the refugee crisis, European
Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said Thursday.
"It is time to move from words to deeds: member states must
do as promised in terms of deploying new staff and resources on
the migrant front," Juncker said ahead of a two-day summit of
European leaders in Brussels starting Thursday.
"There are big delays. The credibility of the European
Council is at stake," he continued.
Juncker said revision of the Dublin regulation concerning
asylum applications in the EU, which is now widely considered
obsolete and slated for reform by March 2016, would be "sped
up".
The Commission president also said there was a "good
chance" of reaching an agreement with Turkey to try to stem the
flow of migrants and refugees across its border into Europe
under the terms of the European Agenda on Migration presented by
the Commission in May.
Juncker's deputy Frans Timmermans and EU Enlargement
Commissioner Johannes Hahn were in Ankara for talks on Thursday.
"The talks are going in the right direction," Juncker said.
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