Thank you, Chair.

I am honoured to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Montenegro *and Albania*[*], the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina  as well as Ukraine and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

We thank Mr Cochetel, the Europe Bureau Director, for the update on UNHCR's operations in Europe.

Europe continues to be directly faced with the most severe refugee and migration crisis it has experienced since the Second World War. With more than 1.19 million applications for asylum made in the European Union in 2016 (according to EU figures), the number of persons seeking protection remains at the high level of 2015. This crisis is one of the unprecedented number of simultaneous large scale complex displacement crises affecting countries worldwide with more than 65  million persons displaced, including 21.3 million refugees, fleeing war, violence, human rights violations, including sexual and gender based violence, in search of safety and protection.

To ensure that the European Union's asylum system can withstand possible future challenges stemming from arrivals in significant numbers, and therefore provide a more robust response, the EU and its Member States are working to identify a way forward on the Common European Asylum System. The effective application of the principles of responsibility and solidarity should ensure a humane and efficient asylum policy as well as predictable support to EU Member States directly affected. In this context, the European Commission has put forward in May and July 2016 two reform packages, for which discussions are ongoing. With the ultimate objective of upholding protection standards and the individual protection responsibilities of each EU Member State, the reform packages are namely aimed at (1) ensuring an effective application of the principles of responsibility and solidarity within the European Union for the processing of asylum applications and ensuring protection to those in need, through putting in place a solidarity mechanism and strengthening the mandate of the European Asylum Support Office, and (2) at preventing irregular secondary movements within the European Union through, inter alia, establishing greater convergence in the application of the European Union's asylum system and streamlining asylum procedures.

The packages for the reform of the European Union's asylum system also seek to strengthen the EU cooperation with partner countries in line with the spirit of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants of September 2016, and the Conclusions on international cooperation from a protection and solutions perspective adopted by the UNHCR Executive Committee in October 2016. This includes a proposal for developing a European Union Resettlement Framework for persons in need of protection as well as proposals for a structured and more harmonised approach to the return to third countries, on the basis of common international protection standards, of those persons who are not found to require international protection in the EU. This will contribute to breaking the business model of smugglers and to preventing that persons in need of protection embark on dangerous and irregular journeys putting their lives at risk.

In the meantime, to deal with the situation in Greece continues to be a priority. In addition to more than EUR 509.5 million long term funding allocated to Greece for the period 2014 to 2020, more than half billion EUR emergency assistance has been awarded to support Greece in order to address reception and processing challenges. We thank UNHCR for its cooperation that continues to be crucial in addressing the needs of around 62,000 persons that may find themselves stranded in Greece.

Also, the dire humanitarian consequences of the conflict in eastern Ukraine persist and primarily impacts civilians with an increasing number of internally displaced persons and refugees in need of assistance. Continued shelling over the past three months has regularly disrupted vital water and electricity supplies exacerbating existing shortages of essentials such as food, medicine and health care, clean water and shelter. The EU values the efforts of UNHCR in eastern Ukraine to deliver humanitarian aid to those in need and to respond to protection concerns. We also commend the UNHCR for its advocacy towards the authorities for an adequate legislation for Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine. We join the UNHCR in welcoming the Government's Action Plan towards the non-government controlled territories in eastern Ukraine adopted on 11 January. Last week, the European Commission announced an additional 18 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine. Together with the funding provided directly by the EU Member States, the European Union as a whole has directed more than EUR 399 million in humanitarian and recovery aid to those affected by the conflict since early 2014. We reiterate our call for increased humanitarian access to crisis affected populations in the non-government controlled areas. Guaranteed safe and unimpeded humanitarian access throughout Ukraine is vital.

We reiterate our gratitude to countries like Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan who deal with a large share of the on-going refugee crisis – forcibly displaced Syrians account for more than 2,9 million in Turkey, more than 650,000 in Jordan and more than 1 million in Lebanon. In 2016, the European Union made available significant financial support to make sure that these countries are able to provide adequate support to the people in need. In addition, EU Member States and Associated States so far resettled more than 14,000 persons, primarily from Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, in line with the commitment of July 2015 to resettle through multilateral and national schemes 22,504 displaced persons from outside the European Union who are in clear need of international protection. Out of these, EU Member States have so far resettled 3,622 Syrians under the 1:1 mechanism of the EU-Turkey Statement and are advancing well on preparing further resettlement operations. They have indicated they plan to admit a further 34,000 Syrians from Turkey, through resettlement, humanitarian admissions or other forms of legal admission under national and multilateral schemes matched by EU funding. In parallel, the European Union continues to work on the establishment of a Voluntary Humanitarian Admission Scheme with Turkey.

The work with Turkey, including on stemming irregular migration flows into the EU and focusing on contributing with legal avenues to the protection of refugees, to take forward the principles of cooperation as outlined in the statement of the Heads of States or Government of the EU Member States and Turkey of 18 March 2016, continues. It has so far resulted in an overall drop of arrivals from Turkey to the Greek islands of 98%. The number of lives lost in the Aegean Sea since the Statement took effect has also substantially fallen, from 1,100 to 70.

Also, with over 181,000 irregular arrivals detected in 2016 and the number of dead or missing persons at sea having reached a new record every year since 2013, the European Union and its Member States are stepping up their work with partner countries, the UNHCR and the IOM along the Central Mediterranean route. We consider indeed that the UNHCR has a very important role to play specifically when it comes to ensuring adequate and humane reception capacities and conditions in Libya. Our objective remains to better manage migration, continue saving lives, step up the fight against smugglers and traffickers and offer protection to refugees and migrants in need, and explore targeted voluntary resettlement and assisted voluntary returns, fully abiding to the EU's humanitarian imperative and the respect of human rights, in line with the set of actions agreed upon by the European Union Heads of State or Government in the Malta Declaration of 3 February 2017. Also recalling the Malta Declaration, we stress that a key element of a sustainable migration policy is to ensure effective control of our external border and stem illegal flows into the EU.

The EU and its Member States also wish to express appreciation for the countries in Africa that have been hosting large refugee populations for decades and specifically for those that have developed policies favourable to refugees. We wish to encourage countries to fulfil their commitments made at the UN Leaders’ Summit on Refugees and further engage in providing durable solutions for the displaced. The EU Regional Development and Protection Programmes in the Horn of Africa and North Africa implemented in close cooperation with UNHCR contribute to these goals through actions focusing on improving protection in the host countries, strengthening capacity of local and central authorities to develop and implement an integrated approach towards refugees, host communities, and improving access to basic services and employment for both refugees and host communities, in line with the commitments undertaken at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016 and the endorsed commitments of the Grand Bargain. Complementary work continues in parallel through regional initiatives, such as the Khartoum and Rabat processes, as well as taking forward the Valletta Declaration and Joint Valletta Action Plan. The Valletta Senior Officials Meeting on 8/9 February 2017 provided an opportunity to evaluate the results achieved so far and achieve political direction on the way forward and future priorities. Combating people smuggling and trafficking is also an important focus for these cooperative actions.

We express our appreciation for the work done by Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran in coordinating their efforts to achieve solutions for people displaced by the Afghan situation. We welcome the significant contribution made by Iran to the reception and integration of Afghan refugees, of whom it is hosting, together with Pakistan, approximately 90 percent. We commend the renewed efforts of UNHCR to find lasting solutions for the people to this complex and rapidly evolving situation.

The European Union and its Member States stand behind and are ready to support the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, based on the principles of international cooperation and responsibility sharing, that was agreed to operationalise the commitments undertaken in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016. This is an opportunity to strengthen protection and deliver more sustainable solutions for refugees and host communities. It is also an opportunity to improve collaborative on a broader range of partners in reach country, incorporating the needs of refugees into national plans. In this framework, the EU has recently scaled up its support for Uganda to provide humanitarian assistance and sustainable solutions for refugees who have crossed the border as a result of the conflict in South Sudan, as well as for the Ugandan host communities. We thank UNHCR for its leadership in rolling out the new Framework and call on all States to fully use the potential of this new Framework, including through the Standing Committee, for putting further collective, multilateral action into practice, with a view to making the implementation of the new Framework a success. This, together with thematic discussions, is an essential basis for the development of the Global Compact for Refugees. We note with appreciation the roadmap proposed by UNHCR for the process leading to the adoption of the Compact in 2018.

The European Union and its Member States continue to support the UNHCR 10-year campaign to end statelessness by 2024. We acknowledge the importance of identifying stateless persons and strengthening their protection thus allowing them to enjoy core fundamental rights and reducing the risk of discrimination or unequal treatment. To further those aims, we are committed to continuing exchanging good practices within the European Union.

The European Union and its Member States welcome that a recommendation inviting the European Union to participate in UNHCR Executive Committee private meetings has been tabled for consideration by this Standing Committee, according to the amendment to the Rules of Procedure adopted by the Executive Committee in October 2016. The European Union stands ready to participate actively in all UNHCR discussions that will support the organisation, including the upcoming Informal Preparatory Consultation, thereby contributing to closer cooperation with UNHCR on asylum and refugee matters within its competence.

The European Union and its Member States thank UNHCR for its support in finding and implementing solutions to address the unprecedented displacement challenges in the best possible manner and assures UNHCR of its continued commitment to support its work.

Thank you Chair.

[*] * Montenegro and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.