STRASBOURG, France: The European Commission will propose a new emergency system to deal with sudden, large-scale movements of migrants, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on September 16.

She announced the plan during her State of the Union speech in Strasbourg, saying Europe needed stronger tools to respond when large numbers of migrants arrive unexpectedly.

The proposed European Emergency Response Framework would be designed for situations in which mass movements of migrants are considered "engineered and weaponized".

It would provide limited protection for EU countries in clearly defined emergencies while preserving existing European values and fundamental rights.

Von der Leyen said recent events had shown that the European Union needed to update its rules, particularly for emergencies. She argued that member states needed the ability to protect their external borders at all times.

She also stressed that any new measures would have to respect the EU's principles and basic rights. The framework would therefore not grant governments unlimited power to change normal migration procedures.

Instead, the emergency system would be activated only when a clearly defined new set of conditions was met. The Commission would establish the criteria for deciding when the exceptional system could be used.

Once activated, the framework would allow limited changes to normal procedures for a limited period. Von der Leyen described this as "time-limited and strictly defined flexibility in standard procedures" for exceptional circumstances.

The proposal comes amid continuing debate across Europe about migration, border controls and the ability of governments to respond quickly when migration numbers rise sharply.

The proposed system would distinguish between ordinary migration pressures, which would continue to be handled under existing rules, and exceptional situations that meet the new criteria.

The Commission has not yet provided all the details of how the framework would work or how the emergency conditions would be assessed. Further proposals are expected to set out the legal and practical arrangements.