The European Commission will impose fines of hundreds of millions of pounds on countries that do not take in refugees.  Jean-Claude Junker is tomorrow expected to unveil plans to impose a penalty of around €250,000 euros per rejected refugee, in a bid to salvage his botched migration quota scheme.

The European Commission is expected to propose on Wednesday that an emergency scheme to distribute 160,000 people around the bloc following the massive influx last summer be put on a permanent footing, with a quota system of allocations that kick in if there is another vast wave of migrants that overwhelms a country.  The new plan comes despite the temporary scheme having proved a flop. It was approved against the wishes of Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary in September, and so far, 1,441 people have been moved.  “Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” remarked one diplomat.

Greece's lenders, especially the IMF, want the Greek parliament to adopt a €3.6 billion package of austerity measures that would be implemented only if Greece missed its primary surplus target for 2018, set at 3.5 percent of GDP by the bailout memorandum signed last year.

The primary surplus is the budget surplus before the state has to repay interests on its debt.

The Greek government, which said legislating in advance was unconstitutional, has proposed to commit to take measures in the future if fiscal data approved by Eurostat show that the target will be missed. A more political argument is that the quartet's request for a contingency package goes beyond what was agreed by eurozone leaders last July and then written down in the bailout memorandum of understanding signed in August.  That is why Tsipras, who always said he would do "nothing more and nothing less" than what was agreed last summer, is trying to push the discussion back to the highest political level.  A eurozone summit is however unlikely, as EU leaders have been willing to let their finance ministers deal with the Greek crisis. The leaders took over the talks last year only when a Greek exit from the eurozone became a real danger.

The biggest Italian banks, insurers and asset managers in the country, have accepted, on Monday night, to create a five billion Euros fund meant to help troubed banks, to allay investor fears over the stability of the local banking sector. The fund, called "Atlas", will benefit from major capital injections from "UniCredit" and "Intesa Sanpaolo", the top two largest banks. According to sources quoted by Reuters, "UniCredit" and "Intesa Sanpaolo" will each contribute one billion Euros to that fund. The sources are also saying that state owned bank CDP will contribute 500 million Euros, smaller banks will allocate between 500 and 700 million Euros, banking foundations will contribute approximately 520 million Euros, and insurers - another 500 - 700 million Euros.  In exchange for the financing offered by private banks, the Italian government has accepted to revise its bankruptcy legislation, in order to facilitate the sale of non-performing loans. Italian PM Matteo Renzi said: "In the coming days we will make the bankruptcy procedure simpler and quicker, so that all the parties involved recoup their money within a reasonable delay".  Currently, in Italy it takes about eight years on average to recoup non-performing loans, compared to approximately two years in the EU. The Italian banking system is facing non-performing loans of approximately 360 billion Euros, one third of the total volume in the Eurozone. The "Atlas" fund will allow supporting "Banca Popolare di Vicenza" and "Veneto Banca", financial institutions that have to raise almost 3 billion Euros in the coming weeks, to consolidate their capital. The fund may invest two billion Euros in the future stock issues of "Banca Popolare di Vicenza" and "Veneto Banca", and may even acquire one of these banks.  The European Commission has informed that it is keeping in touch with the government in Rome on the creation of the fund intended to support banks.

It will take months to reopen Brussels airport fully, its CEO has warned, as staff return to the site a week after it was targeted by Islamist bombers. Arnaud Feist said the building will have to be rebuilt "from the air conditioning to the check-in desks".  The airport said later it would remain closed on Wednesday, dashing hopes it would resume partial services.  Thirty-two people were killed and 96 more are still in hospital after bombs targeted the airport and a metro train.  EU institutions reopened on Tuesday, amid beefed-up security measures. Increased searches on bags and vehicles are being introduced at the European Parliament while many events organised by non-EU bodies have been suspended.  Some 800 airport workers were asked to return to work on Monday to test provisional arrangements involving a temporary check-in area. Enhanced security measures are being introduced in the temporary building and further screening of baggage will take place before passengers reach the departure lounge.

Europe faces a perfect storm of crises on a scale not seen since World War Two. Endless streams of migrants are testing political cohesion. The euro zone crisis remains deeply unresolved, with the richer north and poorer south eyeing each other suspectly. A resurgent Russia provides an external threat in a way not seen since the Berlin Wall fell. Ukraine is a stark reminder that limited conflicts are not unthinkable.  But major, widespread European conflagration? It might remain unlikely, but no longer as unthinkable as it once was.  Some even predict it. In recent months, several current and former U.S. and European officials have told me they privately believe a major European war is no longer unthinkable. One even said he actively expected it to happen.  My own country, Britain, faces its own rather raw choice in June this year, deciding whether or not to remain a member of the European Union. The UK will probably stay in, informed opinion says — although there is also a consensus that the worse the news flow from the continent, the more likely it is to leave. It is difficult to predict how events will unfold, or even what the greatest risks might be: the effects of mass migration, the dangers of growing tensions with a resurgent Russia, the ongoing lingering threat that the euro might unravel. The worst-case scenario might be all of the above happening at once, prompting a collapse into chaos and violence that could be extremely difficult to manage or recover from. Worries over the effect of the migrant crisis skyrocketed after the November Paris attacks, and perhaps even more after reported New Year’s Eve mass sexual assaults in Cologne and other German cities, some blamed on migrants. Russia, meanwhile, is increasingly accused by some U.S. and European officials of deliberately exacerbating tensions in Europe through propaganda and disinformation. At the end of February Philip Breedlove, NATO’s military chief and head of the U.S. European Command went so far as to accuse Moscow of “weaponizing” refugees by stoking the Syrian war to undermine European institutions and resolve. Russia’s agenda remains extremely opaque — particularly since this week’s announcement by Moscow of a withdrawal from Syria. Vladimir Putin could be trying to push Bashar al-Assad towards the negotiating table by threatening to cut support — or simply trying to muddy the waters still further. For sure, the unraveling of the EU — and even more so, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — would offer Moscow considerable short-term advantage. It would also be a catastrophe for vulnerable Northern European states such as the openly nervous Baltics. Ultimately, though, a truly chaotic collapse in Europe could threaten Russia’s interests as much as anyone else.

"I am concerned this Government I want to succeed ... it has become too focused on getting the deficit down."  He added that he chose to step down because he felt "semi-detached, isolated in a sense".  And he claimed he began to lose the ability to make the case for his way of doing things and felt he was losing his influence. "I progressively got more and more depressed that we were running to an arbitrary agenda with a welfare cap in it", he added.  "My concern as I have said ... it's all about how we are perceived and how that balance is right. My deep concern has been that this very limited narrow attack on working age benefits means we simply dont get that balance, we lose the balance of the generations."  "I would not need to do anything on Europe because I have as much freedom as I like ... Europe has nothing to do with this, that is a deliberate attempt to put something out there that discredits me" IDS tells Sky.  "If I was restrained on Europe this might have some logic but it does not ... I recognise this would happen, there would be an attempt to besmirch my ... it's not about Europe."   "I went through a lot of tough decisions last year," IDS adds, mentions tax credits, taper among other things. He says he realised he did not have the power to oppose "raids" on his DWP budget and says Number 10 briefing that the PIP cuts were to pay for tax cuts for middle earners were "wrong". That appears to have been the final straw.

Despite the new set of panic selling hitting markets in the last minutes, Draghi is continuing to stress just how determined the ECB is fight off deflation.  He is asked if the central bank is over-reacting.  "It is not an over-reaction to low oil prices. It is a reaction to the fact conditions have significantly changed since early December. This change was due to a significant weakening of global growth prospects." He also bats away criticism that central banks are running out of tools or that their current measures don't work, highlighting that credit creation has increased after QE .  "Fragementation in the eurozone has now disappeared" he asserts. .. The euro and stocks are taking today's mega stimulus measures badly, despite the fact they exceeded all initial expectations.  It's difficult to tell just why, but Draghi's comments that rates do not need to head lower for now seems to have unleashed  a fresh round of panic for traders. However, and it is important to stress, =the Italian insisted that the ECB would be flexible in reacting when "the facts change".  Interest rates will also stay low and could head lower beyond the QE window into 2017. Before the press conference concluded, Draghi added:  "We are not in deflation" despite the -0.3pc consumer prices this year. Inflation will go up as a result of these measures, but Draghi admits it will take a long time to get near the close to 2pc target. "This is substantially difference to Japan in the 90s".

A recession in Europe could lead to the collapse of the Eurozone, as the single currency would buckle under the political turmoil unleashed by a fresh downturn, a leading investment bank has warned.  In a research note titled "Close to the edge", economists at Swiss bank Credit Suisse warned the fate of monetary union hangs in the balance if Europe's policymakers are unable to ward off another global slump and quell anti-euro populism.  "The viability of the euro is contingent on the current recovery," said Peter Foley at Credit Suisse.  "If the euro area were to relapse back into recession, it is not clear it would endure."  Although the bloc's nascent recovery was likely to persist in the coming months, Credit Suisse said there were worrying signs of deterioration emanating from Europe's economies. These include heightened credit stress in the banking sector and market volatility.    Benoit Cœuré , executive board member at the ECB, said the central bank's policy stance could not "become a source of uncertainty" for expectant markets. "In the still fragile environment we face today, what is essential is that policy works to reduce uncertainty," Mr Cœuré  said on Wednesday.  He admitted that the ECB's move into negative interest rates could have adverse effects on the continent's lenders, hinting policymakers would mitigate the impact of its -0.3pc deposit rate on bank profitability. "We are well aware of this issue. We are monitoring it on a regular basis and we are studying carefully the schemes used in other jurisdictions to mitigate possible adverse consequences for the bank lending channel," said Mr Cœuré .

 Following the capital deficit of almost 8 billion Euros, the regulator of the Austrian financial market (FMA) has imposed a moratorium on the payment of the debts of Heta on March 1st, 2015, which will expire on May 31st, 2016.  "The Finance Ministry has said that Heta is not insolvent, and the guarantees offered by Carinthia and the federal government for Heta's debts will not be affected by the decision", Reuters wrote at the time. The suspension of the payments of Heta has been justified by the need to draw up a resolution plan, which would ensure equal treatment of all creditors, according to the press release of the FMA.  Back in 2015, the Austrian Finance Minister said that the bail-in procedure will also be applied to creditors, as the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) was transposed into the country's national legislation and came into effect on January 1st, 2015.  Now, honoring the government's debt doesn't seem to matter in Vienna anymore, and judging by his own statements, the minister of finance is convinced that the financial situation of the country and its borrowing costs will not be affected.  Unfortunately, reality, in particular the one that is giving the European authorities nightmares since the beginning of the crisis, does not "bend" to political will. Frances Coppola further writes that "Carinthia's insolvency will lead to a heavy fiscal adjustment for Austria, amid an increase in borrowing costs", and the "value of no risk investments will see a massive drop, because government can no longer be considered safe". "The implications, not only for the financial stability of Austria but for that of Europe as well, are terrible", the Forbes journalist concludes. If we also add in the uncertainties concerning the application of the bail-in framework, it is almost certain that Europe will need bigger crises than the Brexit and the refugees' "cover" the growing cracks in its financial foundation. 

The European Parliament backs the monetary policy carried out by the European Central Bank to guarantee price stability but warns that its effect won't last without structural reforms, budgetary discipline and productive investments in the Member States. Moreover, the risks of the ECB's unconventional measures need to be monitored carefully, the European Parliament cautions in its Annual Report on the European Central Bank.  Tom Vandenkendelaere MEP, Shadow Rapporteur and Member of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, calls for a multi-tiered approach to stimulate growth and job creation: "We support the ECB's efforts to increase inflation to under but close to 2%, and its policy to increase the supply of money is slowly yielding results. However, we should not be blind to the risks of this approach and carefully monitor for negative side effects. In addition, Member States should deliver on their part and carry through the necessary reforms and productive investments to boost economic growth and employment."

Tom Vandenkendelaere is appreciative of the ECB's efforts to increase transparency and maintain close ties with the European Parliament: "Thanks to the ECB's efforts on greater transparency, most central banks are now in the habit of explaining important monetary decisions to the wider public."

The ECB is to discuss whether to expand its stimulus measures at its next meeting March 10. Draghi said there were "a variety of instruments" the ECB could employ if it decided more is needed. It could increase its 60 billion euros in monthly bond purchases with newly printed money, a step aimed at driving down already low interest rates and raising inflation that remains too low at 0.4 percent.

He expressed some frustration with governments that have held back spending at a time of economic weakness. He urged governments that are in better shape financially to spend more on public investment that would increase grow and to avoid excessive taxation.

Monetary policy from the central bank "is the only truly stimulative policy over the past four years," he said. ECB officials have warned governments not to rely just on central bank stimulus to boost the modest eurozone recovery.

Frankfurt, Germany • European Central Bank head Mario Draghi says some eurozone banks "face challenges" but that the system is more resilient due to oversight that was strengthened after the global financial crisis.  Draghi said Monday that thanks to new supervision at the European Union level, banks were in a position to bring down the amount of bad loans burdening their finances "in an orderly manner over the next few years."  His comments in the European Parliament follow a week of violent swings in the stock prices of major European banks including Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale. Draghi said some banks faced challenges from litigation and restructuring costs as well as working off soured investments.  The recent sharp drops in stock prices reflected fears banks might be exposed to risks in commodity producing markets, companies and countries. Commodity prices have dropped amid fears about the health of the global economy. Draghi said the situation was "amplified" by perceptions that banks may have difficulty adjusting to an economy with lower growth and lower interest rates. Low interest rates, in part the result of central bank policies, have squeezed bank earnings by narrowing the difference between the rate at which they borrow and the rate at which they lend.

The European Commission has cut its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone this year. It has cut its prediction for the 19-country bloc in 2016 to 1.7% from the 1.8% it had forecast in November.  That figure would still mark a moderate increase from the figure of 1.6% in 2015. The Commission said government spending had been unexpectedly high because of the number of migrants arriving in Europe, which had boosted GDP.  But it warned that the crisis posed "major political challenges" that could undercut growth if not properly handled.  And vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said: "Europe's moderate growth is facing increasing headwinds, from slower growth in emerging markets such as China, to weak global trade and geopolitical tensions in Europe's neighborhood."  "It is important to continue structural reforms that can help our economies grow, withstand shocks in the future and improve job opportunities for our population." The Commission cut its inflation forecast for this year from 1.0% to 0.5%, even further below the European Central Bank's target of about 2%. Consumer prices fell by 0.3% in 2015, largely as a result of the fall in energy prices.

What a shock. Listening to the news this morning it was clear to me that Shell has done slightly better than expected and the market was happy. In fact Shell is up 60 this morning. Imagine my surprise when I read the "shock horror" headline, and this from a, so called, Business Reporter. Not having read the accounts I am assuming that the "exceptional items" include a great deal of write downs which of course do not affect the cash position. More information and less hyperbole would have been helpful.  Royal Dutch Shell has become the latest victim of the oil price rout after it confirmed 10,000 jobs would be axed amid its sharpest decline in income in 13 years. Pummelled by low crude prices, income for the year slumped 87pc to $1.9bn.  The oil major said earnings on a current cost of supplies basis, its preferred way of measuring profits, tumbled 56pc in the final three months of 2015 to $1.8bn, compared to $4.2bn in the previous year.  The torrid quarter took its toll on the Anglo-Dutch group, dragging its full-year profit from $19bn in 2014 to $3.8bn - an 80pc fall. Excluding exceptional items, profits for the year came in marginally below market expectations at $10.7bn. Earnings in Shell's upstream business - which seeks out and produces oil - were hindered by “the significant decline in oil and gas prices”, the group said.  Ben van Beurden, chief executive, said: “We are making substantial changes in the company reorganising our upstream, and reducing costs and capital investment, as we refocus Shell, and respond to lower oil prices”.

A senior Romanian government source, who also insisted on anonymity, added: “We are analysing this proposal. Changes like this have been considered a red line for us until now so we are debating what to do and how to react.” He said Romania would “not want to be the one blocking a compromise which would lead to Britain leaving the EU. But we have to analyse whether it passes our red line.”  Some commentators argued that eastern Europe should swallow welfare cuts for a greater good. “In the case of a Brexit, the EU would be weakened, economically but also politically towards Russia … and more focused on the euro, which would be of detriment to countries (such as Poland) that have not adopted the single currency,” Tomasz Bielecki argued in the liberal Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. “For that reason, the government … needs to be willing to compromise on the question of migrant workers. It is better to forego certain benefits than face Brexit.”... Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, said Warsaw – a vocal opponent of any measures that might discriminate against its citizens working in Britain – broadly approved of measures to strengthen sovereignty and bolster EU members’ ability to stop legislation, but was looking carefully at the proposal to suspend in-work benefits for migrant workers.   “This is a preliminary deal; let us see how the negotiations unfold,” Duda told the TVP Info news channel. “But free movement of workers and services is a fundamental value of the EU. There is a clause saying that in the case of a sudden influx of wage migrants, some benefits could be curbed. We will see what the interpretation [of the clause] is.”..The European council president Donald Tusk’s plan, which must be accepted by all 28 EU member states, seeks to address Britain’s demand for reforms to stem immigration and boost British sovereignty. It includes welfare reforms that are controversial in several east European countries, including Poland, which have sizeable populations of migrant workers in the UK.  The Polish foreign minister, Witold Waszczykowski, told a press conference with his Hungarian counterpart on Wednesday that both countries aimed to present a joint statement on the UK reform package in Budapest on Monday.  While sentiment towards the proposal was generally positive, Waszczykowski said, and “we share the UK’s push to respect the will of sovereign countries more, we must not see any solutions that discriminate against some groups of people”. Up to 1.3 million Poles are thought to live in Britain.

The f*cking psychopaths running our economies are hellbent on leading us to war. We should have put the whole establishment against the wall in 08 when we still had some power. Now they will be putting us all up against the wall. As I said it will be a miracle if this decade doesn't end with a major conflict.  All of the financial world is hocus pocus and the digital age was the ultimate magic wand to send it in overdrive. It's all bullshit and we all know it.  Yet these financial wizards, these insincere quacks preach at the high altar of capitalism and we are forced to take their mass. Our politicians sit at the front row of this mass and nod their heads like obedient dogs.  Anybody who votes for the mainstream political parties is a vote for this corrupt Kabbala. Mainstream parties always belittle the fringe parties as incompetent nutjobs followed by the media who always paint them as unviable.  More importantly they the establishment always cynically point out that there is no point voting for a small party by stating they will have no impact on the stream of general opinion. We are all doomed by our feckless complacency...eat the shit of the 'celeb age'whilst we rob you of everything. The greatest freedom the liberals have won for us is the freedom to be ignorant of the reality which betrays us.

The EU’s draft agreement with the UK received moderate backing from governments in eastern Europe, who had been critical of British prime minister David Cameron’s plans to curb benefits for EU workers.  Governments across Europe are still studying the small print of EU Council chief Donald Tusk’s proposals for a deal with the UK to keep it in the EU, but gave tentative backing to the plan on Tuesday (2 February)  EU leaders will discuss the draft agreement for the first time on 18 and 19 February.  Tusk’s plan offers Britain a gradual, four-year brake on welfare for EU workers, and cuts benefits for children of EU workers living outside Britain.  Eastern European countries had argued that cutting benefits for EU workers was discriminatory and threatened the principle of free movement. Poland, which supplies the bulk of EU workers in Britain, wanted to see more details before signing up to the plan. “Free movement of workers and services is a fundamental value of the European Union,” Polish 
president Andrzej Duda said Tuesday, Reuters reports. "There is a clause [in the deal] saying that in the case of a sudden influx of wage migrants some payments could be curbed. We will see what the interpretation [of the clause] is.

Cameron will visit Poland  to encourage Warsaw to accept the deal.  “We are analysing the latest proposal thoroughly,” Polish prime minister Beata Szydlo also said. The Polish and Hungarian foreign ministers will meet in Budapest on Wednesday to coordinate their positions. “While Hungary supported Britain’s effort to cut down on the abuse of its social system, the government opposes any discrimination in benefits among workers hailing from the EU,” Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said, according to Bloomberg.  The Czech Republic gave a positive first signal, with state secretary for EU affairs Tomas Prouza telling Bloomberg the draft agreement was a "very good solution" for keeping the UK in the EU. “It doesn’t mean totally closing the UK and it isn’t turning anyone into a second-class citizen,” he added. Berlin has kept quiet so far. But Cameron is to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 12 February.  Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the German parliament’s committee on foreign affairs, told the Guardian, a British daily, that the draft proposal was a “good and fair compromise, and a convincing outcome that Cameron can present to the British public”. Denmark’s prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen tweeted on Tuesday that Tusk’s proposals were a good basis for negotiations. He will also meet Cameron on Friday.

The price of commodities are falling towards their cost price. A good thing in sane World. Yet we are told that if Countries are not able to charge scarcity rents for oil and minerals, this is a bad thing. The solution to the reduction of this free lunch is to carry it on by other means i.e IMF funding.  Oil-producing nations face years of pain as prices remain lower for longer, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. Christine Lagarde said the Fund stood ready to help struggling countries such as Azerbaijan and Nigeria cope with a renewed drop in oil prices, amid reports that the African nation has sought support from the World Bank. "Oil and metals prices have fallen by around two-thirds from their most recent peaks, and are likely to stay low for quite some time," she said in a speech at the University of Maryland. "As a result, many commodity-exporting emerging economies are under severe stress, and some currencies have already seen very large depreciations." Ms Lagarde called on policymakers to boost the global "safety net" to cope with future financial shocks. The managing director called for more co-operation between central banks as well as better planning for countries to access credit in times of stress. In separate comments on Thursday, Ms Lagarde praised Azerbaijan for taking steps to reassess spending and use its exchange rate as a "buffer". However, she said Nigeria was still wasting money on subsidies and suggested that the country's woes were being exacerbated by the naira's peg to the US dollar. Whatever Lagarde forecasts the opposite is guaranteed to happen. The idea of helping Nigeria with IMF money is absurd. It is a nation perpetually run by corrupt politicians who have lined their own pockets with its vast oil riches and who live like emperors whether in or out of office. If the Nigerians can't get the right people to run their country that's their problem. Not the IMF's.

 

Inflation is finally showing signs of returning to the eurozone after figures from January suggested consumer prices had risen to their highest level since October 2014. Headline inflation in the 19-country bloc rose to 0.4pc at the start of the year, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, up from 0.2pc in December. More encouragingly for Europe's policymakers, core inflation - which strips out the impact of volatile elements such as energy - also inched up to 1pc from 0.9pc at the end of 2015. Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics, called the slowdown “a temporary blip” and would likely rebound next quarter. Next Friday the Labor Department will release its latest jobs report and the US is expected to have added another 210,000 in January. “People love doom and gloom. We had this the same time last year,” said Ashworth. “But GDP grew 2.4% last year and 2.4% the year before, that’s pretty good. It’s been enough to drive the unemployment rate down to 5% from 10% [at the peak of the recession].”A boost this year is expected to come mainly from consumer spending, which typically fuels about two-thirds of economic activity. Continued solid job growth could embolden consumers to spend more. Personal consumption accounts for more than two-thirds of GDP and rose 2.2% in the fourth quarter, down from 3% in the third quarter. The Federal Reserve issued a cautious assessment of the economy this week, leaving interest rates unchanged after raising its benchmark short-term rate in December from record lows.

Europe is scrambling to save the Schengen zone from collapse with a plan to seal off Greece and introduce internal border checks for up to two years. Jean-Claude Juncker backed a plan to reinforce Greece’s northern border with Macedonia with a taskforce of police drawn from across Europe.  Athens reacted with fury as leaders called for permanent refugee camps with a capacity for 300,000 refugees to be set up.  At a summit in Amsterdam, interior ministers instructed the European Commission to draw up plans to impose internal border controls within the Schengen zone for up to two years. Theo Francken, the Belgian immigration minister, said “closed facilities” run by the EU and holding up to 300,000 people should be set up in the country.  He said “the Greeks now need to bear the consequences” of being unable to stop the migrant flows. He added the Greek “state structure is just too weak to do it themselves – apparently.”  Greece responded with furious and accused the EU of peddling “lies” that it does not want to control its border. Ioannis Mouzalas, Greece’s minister for migration, said the plans would turn his country into a “cemetery of souls.” He said his government had not been consulted fully on the Slovenian plan. "We are tired to listen that we cannot secure our borders," he said. "We are told that we don't want coastguards, it's a lie - we want more coastguards."  "It is very difficult to stop small boats coming except sinking or shooting them, which is against our European values and Greek values and we will not do that," he said. Theresa May, the Home Secretary who attended the summit said Europe needed “urgent action” to deal with an “unprecedented migration crisis.”  “Unfortunately what we've had is more talk than action,” she said.