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 The European Commission proposed last week to ease pressure on
Italy and Greece, which are struggling to deal with thousands of
immigrants crossing the Mediterranean in flimsy boats from Libya,
through an emergency scheme to redistribute 40,000 Syrian and
Eritrean asylum-seekers throughout the European Union.
Under the plan, Germany and France, two of the EU's biggest states,
would together take nearly 40 percent of the 40,000 migrants.
The interior ministers of France and Germany said they were ready to
study the Commission's proposal, based on a fair proposal for
sharing out the migrants.
"This distribution (mechanism) must above all take better account of
the efforts already made by member states on international
protection," they said, presenting a joint Franco-German position.
 The statement, together with concerns expressed by Spain and eastern
European states, suggest the EU faces a tough fight agreeing how to
share out the 40,000 migrants. The statement highlighted the efforts France and Germany are already
making, pointing out that nearly three-quarters of asylum
applications in the EU are made in five member states - Germany,
France, Sweden, Italy and Hungary.
Ministers Bernard Cazeneuve and Thomas de Maiziere said the EU's
emergency mechanism "must be founded on two equally important
principles: responsibility and solidarity. We believe that the
balance between these two principles has not yet been reached in the
proposal presented by the Commission."
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THOUSANDS DIED
More than 5,000 migrants trying to reach Europe have been saved from
boats in distress in the Mediterranean since Friday, EU authorities
say.
Thousands of people, mostly from war-torn African and Middle Eastern
countries, have died trying to cross the Mediterranean this year.
Southern European states are clamoring for more EU help to deal with
migrants, but with anti-immigration parties on the rise amid
economic problems and austerity, many states resist taking large
numbers of asylum-seekers.
The European Commission suggested sharing out the 40,000
asylum-seekers among EU member states based on each EU country's
population, economy, unemployment and the number of asylum
applications received in the past five years.
Interior ministers are due to discuss the plan on June 15 and 16.
Britain, Denmark and Ireland have exemptions on EU matters on
immigration and Britain has said it will not participate in the
relocation scheme or a separate EU plan to resettle 20,000 refugees
from outside the bloc.
(Editing by Ralph Boulton)
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