Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-14-Speech-2-172"
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"en.20020514.9.2-172"2
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"Mr President, I agree with much of what Mr Watson has just said, even if I do not share his belief in the power of free trade to help solve these ills. I welcome some of the statements this afternoon and particularly the attendance of Commissioner Patten. For too long, we have seen these issues purely as a question of law and order, rather than international and economic relations. Migration is a development issue, as the Swedish government has demonstrated by the way in which it organises its ministries.
My group is fine with the idea of a common asylum and a common immigration policy if it is going to be of a higher standard than that which we currently have. I have yet to be convinced that this is going to be the case.
We have heard a lot this afternoon about the need to control borders, but maybe not quite so much about why people are so desperate to cross them. For some, it is a freely made choice – that is as it should be, and part of what it is we are trying to create with the idea of free movement within the European Union. Others, of course, come through force of circumstance because they see no future and no economic possibilities for themselves. We have to remember that the remittances from such people often outweigh the aid which our governments give.
I think that the European Union also has a duty to examine its own policies, to see where these act as factors which actually encourage people to feel forced to migrate. It is a good time to examine this in the run-up to the Johannesburg summit on sustainable development. We need to look at sustainable development and the way in which we give economic possibilities to all.
I was recently amazed to meet somebody from a Romanian embassy, who told me that the environmental clear-up for her country was important, but would have to be done after they had seen to the security of their borders because those were the priorities they were faced with. The other issue which we really need to look at is how we create an immigration policy – allowing people of all skill levels to enter, which is what business tells us we need – as well as looking at legal routes to asylum."@en1
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