European Official Calls for Continent to Take In 160,000 Migrants

BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top executive proposed a plan on Wednesday to distribute 160,000 people throughout the member nations, even while acknowledging that the plan was inadequate to the depth of the crisis.

Citing history, morality and economics, the official, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, urged the bloc to put aside deep divisions over welcoming refugees from war-torn and poverty-stricken nations in the Middle East and Africa and forge a stronger and more unified response.

Facing strong resistance by some members to a quota system to that would compel them to take in a specified number of the new arrivals, Mr. Juncker cast the crisis as the most compelling one facing the bloc since World War II. It was not only a humanitarian issue but also a test of the European Union’s fundamental ability to act in a unified manner and in accordance with its values, rather than following some musty bureaucratic language or practices.

“There is not enough Europe in this union,” he said, referring to how the bloc has reacted so far. “And there is not enough union in this union. We have to change this. And we have to change this now.”

His tone mirrored in many ways that taken in recent days by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who also urged other European nations on Wednesday to agree on plans for dealing with the influx of people and has said her country expects to absorb 800,000 refugees this year alone.

He also proposed unity on such matters as identifying those who are more likely to be granted asylum, and establishing common standards for how they are treated, rather than a patchwork of national policies. - Read More at NYT

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