Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-04-04-Speech-3-122"
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".
Mr President, honourable Members of the European Parliament, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking you for an extremely interesting debate with many interesting questions, but, above all, I would like to thank you for your substantial commitment in the area of legal and home affairs. I will attempt to summarise and comment on your viewpoints and questions.
Some of the contributions during the debate, such as the contributions from Mrs Terrón i Cusí and Baroness Ludford, dealt with the continued work. They wondered: “What is actually happening? You have this vision and the aim from Tampere, but what are you actually doing?” I reported on some of the decisions taken. I also reported on the status of the work in respect of some of the directives that are relevant. Allow me simply to emphasise that we hope that at our meeting in May we will be able to make decisions concerning the Directive on temporary protection and the Directive on the reunification of families. The negotiating work on these directives is currently progressing well. It is thus our hope that we will be able to make decisions in May.
We have also come a long way in respect of launching the Eurodac system. The test runs will be started in late summer 2001. We believe that this is a system which will be able to give us a more effective application of the Dublin Convention.
As regards the proposal for third country nationals’ rights, this has just been submitted. However, we look forward to being able to commence work on this directive as well.
I also mentioned earlier in the debate that the Belgian Presidency will focus on immigration policy and arrange a seminar on migration in October 2001. Spain, too, has announced a ministerial conference in respect of flows of migration from Asia in advance of its presidency.
We are working patiently, step-by-step, so as to be able to realise the scoreboard that has been proposed with a view to implementing the conclusions of the Council’s summit in Tampere. The implementation work is still in its initial stages, but we are moving forward and naturally we want to make decisions as quickly as possible.
Let me start by making it clear that we are working for a union characterised by freedom, security and justice. None of us is interested in building a “Fortress Europe”. Rather our work is characterised by very great dynamism, a deeper cooperation in a Europe which we also wish to see enlarged.
One of the foremost aims of the Swedish Presidency is enlargement. It is to make this region larger, to integrate further countries into a deeper cooperation, not just for freedom, security and justice, but also for peace. This work obviously has considerable dynamism. We are working with countries around the Mediterranean and we are working on strengthening our cooperation with Russia and with China – to take just a few examples of the process that is going on and in which the Union is a powerful driving force in this cooperation and in the work on expanding this area.
This naturally also characterises our work on a harmonised asylum and immigration policy. In addition, it characterises the holistic perspective that we are imposing on the harmonisation work emanating from the Treaty of Amsterdam and the conclusions reached in Tampere. We want to have a modern immigration policy which means that not only do we work on eliminating the fundamental causes of involuntary migration but that, at the same time, we guarantee protection for those who are in need of protection.
We have all been incredibly moved and affected by the tragedies and catastrophes that we have seen come to us on our television screens. This is a continuing and despicable trade. It exploits people in vulnerable situations. It is something that we must work against with considerable strength. However, we must do so in a number of different ways – one way is not sufficient. That is why work such as the increased cooperation with the candidate countries and the work to ensure that these countries, too, have a good legal system and a good asylum system is incredibly important with a view to preventing illegal immigration and preventing these tragedies. We must deal with the underlying causes of involuntary migration.
Last week I was in the Balkans together with Commissioner Vitorino and the Belgian internal affairs minister, Mr Duquesne. We met representatives of five of the Baltic states in order to discuss precisely these matters. We accepted a far-reaching declaration incorporating this very holistic perspective that deals with both a legally secure asylum, reception and integration system and measures to achieve good border controls and an efficient visa policy.
As far as some of the practical questions are concerned with regard to what we are doing and what consideration is being given to the statements that have come from the European Parliament, allow me to shed light on just two matters. The first of these is the issue of human trafficking. Where this is concerned I want to make a clear distinction between human trafficking which exploits vulnerable people and what we call humanitarian acts. Humanitarian acts must not be punishable. We are working on a humanitarian clause concerning illegal entry. We have decided that, where illegal residence is concerned, the existence or otherwise of the profit motive will be the key factor in determining which acts are of a specifically humanitarian character and cannot therefore be punished. As far as the penalties are concerned: these must be severe. We have not yet reached agreement on this, but we are currently discussing a primary proposal for a minimum penalty of six years.
Where the question of transporters’ liability is concerned I wish to strongly reject what was said by Mrs Cederschiöld. Our exploratory work that is currently in progress provides a basis for reaching agreement on this in accordance with guidelines from the French Presidency. There are two viewpoints from the European Parliament which I, as President, have also brought into the discussions. The first issue is that transporters must not be punished where an asylum application is granted or when a person is granted residence for other reasons. This should mean that we defer the enforcement of fines on those who come to the EU and seek asylum despite the fact that they do not have adequate documents. Only when the asylum process is complete must those persons who are not allowed to stay be liable to pay these fines.
The second issue that was also included in the statement from the European Parliament concerns the fact that airlines and shipping companies can only be expected to discover obviously forged documents and people who lack any travel documents whatsoever. At the same time, it is, of course, reasonable for us to demand that transporters check passports and any visas. However, the sanctions must not be disproportionately severe. We do not yet know whether we will arrive at a solution that is acceptable to everyone, but we are sounding out the basis for this."@en1
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