Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-26-Speech-4-142"
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"en.20001026.5.4-142"2
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"Mr President, the conclusions of the European Council at Tampere called for firmer external action in the area of legal and internal affairs. The action plan being discussed is a major measure to strengthen external action. The enormous institutional changes that came out of the Treaty of Amsterdam have had an impact on the way asylum and migration are dealt with. The Community can now respond to the demands of the European Council by making use of its new powers regarding foreign policy and its programmes connected with external relations. In connection with the Stability and Association process we are discussing issues of immigration with the Albanians as equal partners. There should be similar sorts of discussions going on in the region as a whole. Since 1991, Albania has been granted a total of 750 million euros in multi-sectoral aid within the framework of the PHARE programme. In the last two years the country has been granted an additional 250 million euros in humanitarian aid under the ECHO programme. Legal and internal affairs are an important element in the CARDS programme that followed PHARE.
We wish to emphasise in particular the fact that we fully support the comprehensive approach and aim on the part of the High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration to discover the real reasons for enforced movements of population. The General Affairs Council adopted the first five action plans last October, and they concern Somalia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Morocco, and Iraq. The action plan for Albania and its neighbouring regions was adopted in June this year and it is thus the sixth in order. The European Council at Tampere urged the Council and the Commission to report on the progress of the Working Group’s work in December this year. The report will discuss the action programme for Albania and its neighbouring regions in detail. The draft is being discussed today in the Council. The Commission is playing an active part in compiling the report.
I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mrs Karamanou, and the whole Committee for this very thorough report and I hope that the Council will give consideration to the points of view expressed in it. I wish to raise three points for consideration, which the Commission regards as particularly important. Firstly, the Commission supports a balanced, impartial approach to the measures proposed and to their implementation. In this, we are of the same opinion as the rapporteur. Secondly, the situation seems to be excellent as far as the aims in the action plan for the year 2000 are concerned. The Commission has been involved in drafting the report on the implementation of the action plan. We also want to thank the Member States for their input with regard to this work. As I have already said, the Community aims to implement its aid programmes as efficiently as possible. This provides the focus for the work of the Union as a whole. Thirdly and lastly, the action plan and its way of implementation must be observed regionally. The Stability Pact for South-East Europe offers an excellent forum for this. The parties to the Stability Pact have already delivered several opinions along these lines. We may also adopt a more optimistic attitude towards the summit to be held next month in Zagreb."@en1
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