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

52 EU Solidarity in managing migration flows through ECHO in Greece 3/2016-3/2019 States at the same time or is linked to or part of a globally important humanitarian event, addressing solidarity towards people in need 23 . This explains then why in 2016, the European Union decided to adopt measures on re-distribution, one fully controlled by the Commission (financial) and one based on member states political will (family reunifications, relocation, resettlement, et al.). 2. Emergency humanitarian policies and mechanisms of solidarity within the EU 2.1. The leading role of EU as a provider of humanitarian aid to third countries Emergency policies and mechanisms in the EU are in line with the leading role of the EU as one of the largest providers of humanitarian aid in global crises -including terrorist attacks, economic crises, natural disasters, armed conflicts and their effects across different geographic regions. As part of a successful humanitarian framework to tackle the needs of people hit by natural or man-made disasters, EU has an annual budget of €1 billion euros, is active in 145 countries around the world, has 50 field offices, more than 200 framework humanitarian partners, among which international organizations, UN specialized agencies, the Red Cross /Crescent Movement and NGOS. EU’s humanitarian aid policy has strived to be humane, impartial, neutral and independent from political expediencies, through the adoption of specific Regulations and a Consensus on humanitarian aid based on international law obligations 24 . How has this well-established framework been affected by the new Mechanism called “Emergency Support Instrument”, which was designed in Brussels, within the competence of the Office of the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission (DG ECHO), in the first months of 2016, to address “the humanitarian consequences of victims of natural or man-made disasters - for the first time - within the EU”. 25 The European Commission created ESI with a vision to internalize 23. See on Solidarity as a changing legal concept in international law, see Koroma A.G ., Solidarity: Evidence of an Emerging International Legal Principle, in Hestermeyer H.P., König D., Matz-Lück, N., Röben V., Seibert-Fohr A. , Stoll P.-T., Vöneky, S ., Coexis- tence, Cooperation and Solidarity. Liber Amicorum Rüdiger Wolfrum, Nijhoff, Leiden etc., 2012, Vol. I, pp. 103–129 refering also to Politis N., La morale internationale, La Bâconnière, Neuchâtel, 1943, p. 84. 24. See EU, Council Regulation on Humanitarian Aid, 1257/96, in OJEC L 163, 2 July 1996. And the European Commission. 2007. Towards a European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid . COM (2007) 317 final. 25. On the need to adopt the Regulation due to the humanitarian crisis in Greece, see ibidem footnote 3.