ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

160 The ‘hotspot’ approach: key findings from Greece The European Commission 31 for the proper management of the exceptionally high migration flows, in the wake of series of tragedies at sea in April 2015, culminating in the sinking of a vessel on 19 April with estimated 600-700 victims, 32 has stressed the need to implement priority actions under the European Agenda on Migration. The Agenda comprises immediate action aimed at, for instance, saving lives at sea, targeting criminal smuggling networks, and helping frontline Member States cope with the high numbers of arrivals, as well as longer-term measures, e.g. se- curing Europe’s external borders 33 , reducing the incentives for irregular migration and designing a new policy on legal migration. One of the key operational measures proposed in the Agenda is to set up a new ‘hotspot’ approach towards managing the large influx of migrants which has to be implemented under very challenging and changing circumstances. A hotspot is defined as an area at the EU’s external border which faces disproportionate migra- tory pressure 34 . It is noteworthy that the policy framework governing how hot –spots operate, was initially set out in an unofficial “explanatory note” sent by Commissioner Avramopoulos to Justice and Home Affairs Ministers on 15 July 2015 35 . The princi- ples of the note on managing the refugee crisis 36 , were restated in an annex to a Commission Communication from September 2015 37 . First of all, the hotspots are physical sites for the registration, identification and first assistance of new arrivals directly after disembarkation, located in Euro- pean external border areas facing disproportionate mixed migration flows. 38 The 31. European Commission, Factsheet “The hotspot approach to managing exceptional migratory flows”, 8 September 2015. 32. See: http://www.unhcr.org/5533c2406.html and http://www.bbc.com/news/world- europe-32371348 . 33. Most of the migrants recorded on the Western Balkan route had arrived earlier on one of the Greek islands and then left the EU to travel through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. Source: Frontex, Risk – analysis for 2016. 34. https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/ european-agenda-migration/background-information/docs/2_hotspots_en.pdf. 35. Explanatory note available at: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST- 10962-2015-INIT/en/pdf. 36. Annex 2 to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council, Managing the refugee crisis: immediate operational, budgetary and legal measures under the European Agenda on Migration, 29 September 2015. 37. COM(2015) 490 final of 23.9.2015 ‘Managing the refugee crisis: immediate operational, budgetary and legal measures under the European Agenda on Migration’, in particular Annex II. 38. Explanatory note on the “Hotspot” approach, 15 July 2015.