At an informal meeting in Paris today, the interior and foreign ministers of the EU member states want to continue their search for a solution in the dispute over the sea rescue in the Mediterranean.
Just last week Germany and France tried unsuccessfully at an EU meeting in Helsinki to launch a European transitional arrangement for the distribution of people rescued in the Mediterranean. For the first week of September another special meeting is planned in Malta.
15 EU countries wanted for transitional arrangements
The aim of the meeting in Paris is to get around 15 EU countries to participate in an ad hoc mechanism, the French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner had announced. The proposed transitional regime is designed to prevent Italy and Malta from banning ships with rescued passengers from entering their ports.
Both states had done this several times in the past because they feared that responsibility for the refugees would be left alone by the EU’s partners. As a result, people on private rescue ships often spent days on board until a solution was found.
