Proposal for 60,000-euro fine for EU countries refusing to accept asylum applicants

Plan tabled by Malta Presidency

The European Presidency of Malta has tabled a proposal that would compel EU member-states to pay a 60,000-euro fine for each refugee asylum-applicant from other overburdened EU member-states they refused to accept. The proposal also provides that countries receiving refugees would be compensated with the same amount, according to a document in the hands of German news agency DPA. As the report by DPA says a possible compensation would only be approved if the European Commission had verified that the particular EU member-state was indeed burdened by a large number of refugees. According to the proposal, countries refusing to accept asylum applicants would be allowed to contribute by providing border-guards or asylum experts.