The decision to set up the special unit that is to bring together experts from the Federal Employment Agency and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees emerged from talks between Chancellor Angela Merkel, Peter Altmaier Head of the Federal Chancellery, Frank-Jürgen Weise Chairman of the Executive Board of the Federal Employment Agency, and the former President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees Manfred Schmidt, explained government spokesperson Steffen Seibert at the government press conference on Friday 18 September.

The new unit is to produce ideas as to how to speed up the processing of requests for asylum and suggest ways in which the Federal Employment Agency staff can help the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, said Steffen Seibert.

Manfred Schmidt, President of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees resigned on Thursday 17 September citing personal reasons. Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière praised his "excellent work" and said that Schmidt had "acted with great responsibility and enormous commitment", as a result of which the Office has been able to continue to perform its vitally important work well and with dedication. On Friday the Federal Interior Minister announced that Frank-Jürgen Weise, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Federal Employment Agency, would also be taking on the top job at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.

The outcomes of the work of the new unit are firstly to be communicated to the Federal Interior Minister and then presented at the meeting of the federal and state governments on Thursday this week (24 September). In the meantime Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Sigmar Gabriel said in an interview with the newspaper Bild how important it is to ensure that the processing of requests for asylum is well organised. "People coming from countries where they face neither war nor persecution will have to leave our country again, partly so that we have space for those who are genuinely persecuted."

Only a European solution can work

With a view to the planned meetings this week at European and national levels, government spokesperson Steffen Seibert once again stressed that the refugee situation can only be resolved at European level. "We are absolutely aware of the dimensions of the challenge currently facing countries like Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and now also Croatia and other states. And this makes it so clear to us that there can be no purely national solution to this humanitarian challenge, which is probably the greatest Europe has seen since the Second World War. The situation can only be resolved by Europe as a whole," stressed Steffen Seibert.

Outlook for the week ahead
On Monday 21 September Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with representatives of local authority associations in order to discuss questions of financing, as well as the reception and accommodation of refugees. On Tuesday 22 September the EU ministers of home affairs will meet in Brussels. On Wednesday 23 September, Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend the extraordinary meeting of EU heads of state of government in Brussels. In Berlin another meeting of the state and federal governments will be held on Thursday 24 September. It is to focus on legislative and financial matters.

The state as a whole is called on to act

On Tuesday 15 September there was a special focus on the need for common efforts to master the refugee situation. Following a meeting of state and federal government representatives at the Federal Chancellery, Angela Merkel stressed that the state as a whole "must make an enormous effort". In view of this, she was particularly encouraged by the support coming from the federal states.

One outcome of the meeting was agreement that in future refugees will be allocated to the individual federal states in line with the Königstein formula. All federal states had agreed to this. There was also talk that the federal government create up to 40,000 places in initial reception facilities, and that reallocation centres be established. "Hubs of this sort are needed," said the Chancellor. The Bundeswehr too confirmed its readiness to supply more human resources. Legal and financial matters are to be discussed when the federal government meets again with the state governments on 24 September.

Angela Merkel and Werner Faymann call for special European Council meeting

On Tuesday (15 September) Angela Merkel met with her Austrian counterpart Werner Faymann. She reported that they agreed that a common European response is needed to the refugee crisis. "This is the responsibility of the European Union as a whole," said Angela Merkel. That is why she proposed an extraordinary European Council meeting for the coming week to look at assistance for the countries of origin of refugees and the establishment of hotspots in Greece and Italy. Ways of engaging in more intensive talks with Turkey should also be explored, she reported.

Two meetings of EU ministers

On Monday (14 September) the EU home affairs ministers met. The readiness to distribute 160,000 refugees was voiced, but no agreement was reached on a quota. Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière described this as a very bitter pill, since binding commitments had only been made to accept 40,000 refugees. Only fundamental political declarations of principle had been achieved for the other 120,000 refugees. Some states still see no need to demonstrate their responsibility and solidarity, he reported. "That will have to change, or we will have a major problem in Europe," said the Federal Interior Minister.

European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said, "The majority of member states, but not all, are ready to move ahead." Political agreement was reached by the EU member states regarding a list of safe countries of origin, including the western Balkan states but excluding Turkey. Before the home affairs ministers met, the EU ministers of European affairs agreed to extend military action to combat human traffickers and smugglers.

In a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her French counterpart François Hollande submitted concrete proposals as to how Europe can cope with the refugee crisis. Jean-Claude Juncker said, "Our European Union is not in a good state of health. There is a lack of Europe in the Union. And there is a lack of union in this Union. This is something we will have to change." In an interview at the start of the week Federal Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble also said that the way we deal with the refugee crisis will demonstrate "whether or not we Europeans demonstrate genuine solidarity with one another".

Temporary border controls introduced

Last weekend temporary border controls were introduced in response to the massive influx of refugees. "The aim of this measure is to restrict the current influx of migrants into Germany and allow us to return to an ordered procedure," the Federal Interior Minister explained at that time. The action was urgently needed for security reasons, he said, but the Dublin Regulation and the EURODAC regulations still apply. "And I call on all European member states to uphold these regulations," said Thomas de Maizière. Under existing regulations the member state responsible must not only register asylum-seekers, but also process their requests for asylum.

At the next government press conference, federal government spokesperson Steffen Seibert added, with respect to the border controls, that the decision had been taken jointly by the coalition government and that the German government will always act as the situation demands. He once again thanked the "people who have surpassed themselves in helping refugees". We cannot thank them enough, he said.