Mediterranean migrant crisis: EU refugee quotas to be proposed

"The European Commission will make the controversial proposal that EU member countries should take in refugees under a quota scheme.
The UN estimates that 60,000 people have already tried to cross the Mediterranean this year.
Migrants are being driven to make the journey by "horrific abuse" in Libya, according to Amnesty International.
More than 1,800 migrants have died this year in the Mediterranean, a 20-fold increase on the same period in 2014.
The European Commission's migration policy, to be announced on Wednesday, will also propose organising legal means for migrants to come to Europe so they do not turn to traffickers. However, it will need to be agreed by EU states. European leaders will discuss the proposals at a summit at the end of June.
The measures proposed by the EC are the latest in a series of steps designed to stop migrants drowning in the Mediterranean. More than 200,000 migrants fleeing conflict or poverty from countries such as Syria, Eritrea, Nigeria and Somalia are estimated to have crossed the Mediterranean last year, with thousands dying making the journey.
Quotas would be determined using a number of factors, including a country's population, economic indicators and the number of asylum seekers previously accepted.
Germany keenly supports the idea of quotas, having received 200,000 asylum applications last year.
Countries such as Italy and Malta, where large numbers of migrants arrive by boat, have also called for EU members to share responsibility for migrants more evenly. Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has described a quota as "a question of fairness", adding that asylum is "not an act of mercy but a human right".
However, other EU countries are fiercely opposed to the idea of quotas. A UK government spokesman said: "The UK has a proud history of offering asylum to those who need it most, but we do not believe that a mandatory system of resettlement is the answer." "We will oppose any EU Commission proposals to introduce a non-voluntary quota." Leaders in Hungary, Slovakia and Estonia have also objected to a quota system, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban calling it "a crazy idea".
On Monday the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, will ask the UN Security Council to permit the use of force against people traffickers operating out of Libya. Without a UN mandate, military action to destroy or halt traffickers' boats in Libyan or international waters would be illegal.
Libya's ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told the BBC that his country is against the proposal. "The Libyan government has not been consulted by the European Union. They have left us in the dark about what their intentions are, what kind of military actions they are going to take in our territorial waters, so that is very worrying," he told the World Service's Newsday programme.
Amnesty International has warned that military action could leave migrants trapped in Libya in desperate conditions.
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BBC

Exit poll: UK Conservatives just shy of a majority

"The exit poll in Britain's general election predicted late Thursday that the Conservative Party will win 316 seats, just short of a majority in the House of Commons, meaning that David Cameron will likely remain prime minister. (...)
Cameron's Conservatives would need 326 for an outright majority in the 650-seat House of Commons, although in practice it's about 323: the Speaker does not vote, and Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, who had five seats before the election, do not participate.
If the exit poll is accurate, the Conservative Party would be in a commanding position to form the next government by seeking coalition partners from smaller parties. "
Link to Fox

European Union GDP growth to hit 1.8 per cent this year

"The European Commission expects GDP to rise 1.8 per cent across the European Union, and by 1.5 per cent across the euro area as a whole. It's expected to benefit from low oil prices cutting business costs and giving consumers more disposable income, stronger exports as a result of the weak euro, and loose monetary policy from the European Central Bank.
"Oil prices remain relatively low, global growth is steady, the euro has continued to depreciate, and economics policies in the European Union are supportive," it said.
"On the monetary side, quantitative easing by the European Central Bank is having a significant impact on financial markets, contributing to lower interest rates and expectations of improving credit conditions."
And it said inflation - which recently crawled out of negative territory - will stay close to zero during the first half of 2015, before picking up towards the second half of the year.
However the European Commission slashed cash-strapped Greece's growth forecast to just 0.5 per cent for 2015, down from 2.5 per cent three months earlier."
Link - NewsEconomics