During his recent visit to Athens, the First Vice-President of the Commission, Mr Timmermans, expressed his concern and disappointment at the fact that Greece does not use the substantial EU funding it receives to tackle the refugee crisis.

In response to my previous question on the subject, the Commission stated that: ‘ In particular, Greece benefits from EUR 509 million allocations under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) for the 2014-2020 period. Since the start of the migratory crisis, some EUR 360 million of emergency assistance has been awarded to Greece.’ It goes on to state: ‘The Emergency Support Regulation (ESR) (…), on the provision of emergency support within the Union, made available EUR 198 million in 2016 for humanitarian actions in Greece. Up to EUR 247.5 million is available under the ESR in 2017’.