Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-04-Speech-1-063"
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"en.20020204.5.1-063"2
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"Mr President, we believe that the two draft directives presented by the Commission on the conditions of residence and movement of third-country nationals within the European Union are, to put it mildly, lagging far behind our current requirements.
These conditions arise from a state of mind that we thought had become obsolete following the attacks of 11 September and which sought, in particular, to put unrestricted openness and movement before the security of our fellow citizens. Unfortunately, we must point out that this dangerous state of mind is still very much alive.
As far as the conditions of movement of third-country nationals are concerned, for example, the draft directive abolishes the current obligation to declare themselves, under Article 22 of the Schengen Convention, when they move between EU countries. Each Member State retains the option of maintaining this obligation, but in a watered down form and with a longer time limit for the declaration.
In our opinion, this is exactly the opposite of what should have been done. We should have examined how to make this declaration of presence more operational and more effective. Everyone here is aware that following 11 September, Europe has been accused of being too easy for terrorists to use as a base, because its internal borders are too porous. Yet, we are quite obviously considering a proposal that would increase this porosity.
Similarly, we are opposed to introducing a specific six-month travel authorisation which is not provided for under the Treaty and which would distort its spirit, as the Treaty’s common visa policy only relates to visas valid for less than three months.
Lastly, with regard to the second draft directive relating to third-country nationals who are long-term residents, we believe that the Community has no jurisdiction to introduce, even by unanimity, a common status comprising uniform principles. Article 63 of the TEU specifies only that the Council can take ‘measures’ relating to immigration policy in the area of entry and residence conditions, but that it cannot and must not be a question of a full status which would impose a centralised, uniform and rigid solution for all Member States. In particular, we do not believe it is appropriate to grant third-country nationals who benefit from this so-called status rights that remove differences between them and national citizens and grant them a virtually automatic right of stay in the other Member States.
Those of our fellow Members who believe that we are here, first and foremost, to protect the interests of our respective peoples will vote against these two draft directives."@en1
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