Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-02-Speech-2-044"
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"en.20011002.3.2-044"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, Mr President-in-Office of the Council, to start with I would like to say, Mr Duquesne, that I regard it as very positive that you are taking part in this debate yourself as the Minister for the Interior and are not being represented by your Minister for European Affairs. We have noted that you have a good grasp of the issue and are interested in really achieving something here. If this can be done in conjunction with the Commission and Parliament, then we can look forward to some real progress.
The European Union is now clearly taking things seriously and is for the first time making a genuine attempt at a systematic approach toward migration policy. We have accordingly clearly established that there are three groups of migrants requiring different measures and different legal arrangements, and that there are also issues which cut across the three groups.
Let us look at the three groups first. We have economic migrants, and my report addresses how they are received in the individual Member States, depending on the facilities and needs of those Member States. Then we have asylum-seekers, who are recognised as refugees under the Geneva Convention. I firmly believe that the Geneva Convention should on no account be watered down or departed from, either by extending or by diluting the grounds for granting refugee status. What we need are swift and safe decisions for refugees and European minimum standards for the procedures involved.
The third group covers war refugees, that is refugees who come to us temporarily and need a different kind of help again. Issues which cut across the three groups include family reunification and combating trafficking in and smuggling of human beings and illegal immigration. That means that we have a complicated system before us. My report is concerned exclusively with immigration on economic grounds and was adopted with six votes against, so that it achieved a fairly broad consensus. I would like to express my sincere thanks for the extremely constructive and positive cooperation between the wide variety of political groups in this House, which made it possible to create a broad basis for a new approach to immigration into the European Union on economic grounds.
What is at stake here is controlling the immigration of workers and maintaining social, economic and political stability in the European Union. However, in view of the events of 11 September, we also need increased vigilance when it comes to the hospitality, aid and freedoms offered by the Union, to make sure that these are not abused by individual elements to breach the security of Europe's citizens or of the world as a whole.
It should also be clear to us, as I stated at the beginning of my report, that we cannot counter demographic trends by means of immigration alone, but that the only really good and meaningful approach is, of course, an enhanced education policy and family policy. It must also be clear that we have to give the integration of third country nationals living here legally higher priority than new immigration.
What are the core issues in my report? It is evident that when it comes to immigration the European Union can only take on certain tasks and that a great deal must remain a matter for the Member States. Another issue that must remain in the hands of the Member States is what workers and how many workers should be given residence permits and work permits for a particular Member State, depending on that State's needs and facilities. It is also evident that if integration is to be successful, factors such as the availability of suitable work and housing must be taken into account.
Another important issue for the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs is what we expect of immigrants, by which I mean their willingness to integrate and to recognise the Community of values. Conversely, there should also be an obligation on the Member States to provide an appropriate level of support for integration. At EU level it is a question of determining conditions for the entry and residence of these migrants and drawing up a coherent system for granting visas, of regulating the ability of third country nationals to move between Member States and the introduction of measures to counter trafficking in and smuggling of human beings and illegal immigration, and also cooperation and information campaigns in and with the countries of origin.
The committee in principle welcomes all the Commission's proposals on the immigration of workers. I hope that the broad consensus that we achieved in committee will be repeated when we vote here in the plenary."@en1
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