Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-04-Speech-1-058"
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"en.20020204.5.1-058"2
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"Mr President, at the Tampere Summit, the European Council declared that the legal status of third-country nationals should be approximated to that of Member State nationals so that they have a uniform set of rights as close as possible to those enjoyed by EU citizens.
The Commission’s proposal set out, in a very clear and balanced fashion, the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to acquire long-term resident status. This is a balanced proposal. The criteria are, amongst others, the length of legal residence and adequate resources. Furthermore, the individual must not constitute a threat to public order or domestic security. I must say, however, that some amendments cause me great concern as they run counter to the Tampere objectives. Article 7 of the Commission’s proposal on the threat to public order is clear and I think it is worrying and counter-productive to draw a parallel between immigration and terrorism.
On the other hand, we share the view that the level of language knowledge assists in an individual’s integration but it should not, under any circumstances, be considered a condition for obtaining resident status. Why is this? Well, quite simply because it is not an objective and precise criterion. There is no cause and effect link between a specific level of language knowledge – what level do we mean? – and integration itself. I myself know people who have been living in my country for ten years, and everyone says that they are perfectly integrated, despite the fact that they still have some difficulties with French.
Lastly, I think it is unfair to introduce the requirement for suitable housing as an additional condition to avoid granting status to third-country nationals legally residing in the European Union. Many nationals do not have suitable housing, unfortunately, and they are not second class citizens because of this. Everyone would like to have suitable housing.
It is fundamental that we create a welcoming society and acknowledge that integration is a two-way process requiring adaptation by the immigrant as well as the host society."@en1
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