eKathimerini — European Council President Donald Tusk is planning to tell EU leaders to scrap the refugee quota scheme that foresees member states taking in a certain number of migrants, the Guardian reported on Monday.
Tusk will reportedly set a six-month deadline for EU leaders to reach unanimous agreement on reforms to the European asylum system, but will propose alternatives if there is no consensus, according to the British paper.
“If there is no solution … including on the issue of mandatory quotas, the president of the European council will present a way forward,” states a draft letter from Tusk to national capitals, seen by the Guardian.
He is said to be planning to make his proposal at Thursday’s EU summit.
The scheme, which was introduced in 2015 at the peak of the migrant crisis, has been “controversial and divisive”, with a number of EU member states – most notably Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic – viciously opposing it.
Scrapping the scheme until an alternative is in place would have a huge impact on front line countries Greece and Italy, which receive the overwhelming majority of arrivals.
