Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-07-Speech-2-315"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050607.28.2-315"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, first of all I congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Gaubert, on his report, which I feel is extremely balanced and well-structured. I believe that it makes an excellent contribution to a European immigration policy, highlighting, on the one hand, the added value of Europe, and, on the other, the importance of close cooperation with third countries.
Mr President, I will conclude by confirming my personal satisfaction with Mr Gaubert’s report, which demonstrates how important Parliament’s contribution can be. With regard to the subject-matter in question, Parliament has adopted a stronger and more incisive political approach than in the past. On this matter, I believe that Parliament will be able to be of very great assistance to the policies of the Commission, which will obviously take account of the voice of Parliament.
I will express a number of opinions on the main points in the report. Firstly, with regard to establishing an early warning system, the Commission strongly supports this idea and is drafting a proposal. By summer, it intends to put forward a proposal for a Council decision on the development of a preliminary consultation procedure among the Member States for the adoption of measures in the area of asylum and immigration.
Secondly, with regard to the connection between immigration and development policies, the Commission intends to present a draft communication, again by this summer, in order to develop practical ideas and proposals linking European migration policy with cooperation in the area of development. In this context, particularly sensitive subject-matter will without doubt be examined, such as the so-called ‘brain drain’, which is also an extremely delicate issue for the countries from which the flows of highly-qualified workers originate.
With regard to measures against illegal immigration, moreover, the Commission obviously agrees with the rapporteur’s approach: our action is directed against any kind of trafficking in human beings, in which illegal immigrants are clearly only victims. We are examining proposals for common rules for the dissemination of best practice, with a view to tackling the trafficking in human beings more effectively, by possibly aiming for greater involvement from third countries and promoting closer cooperation between the third countries themselves and the Member States in order to protect maritime borders.
The European immigrant-return policy also deserves much attention. The Hague Programme expressly stipulates the need for European common rules on this matter. In all likelihood before September, the Commission intends to present a proposal for a directive incorporating common, transparent rules – which we will obviously examine together – on the immigrant-return policy, which will take full account of the need to respect the fundamental rights of every man and woman. When discussing fundamental rights, I do not believe that any distinction can be made between a legal immigrant and an illegal immigrant: the fundamental right of respect for human dignity applies indiscriminately to legal and illegal immigrants alike.
We now come to the important subject of legal migration for economic reasons: we are collecting a large number of proposals on the Green Paper issued by the Commission in January, with which you are all familiar. A public hearing will take place on 14 June, and on the basis of the outcome of that extensive consultation we will prepare a proposal before the end of the year. The proposal – as I have already had cause to confirm in this House – will precisely be the product of a large-scale European debate.
Another particularly important matter concerns the recruitment – and the facilitation of recruitment – of seasonal workers and workers employed on a temporary basis. The importance of economic migration is widely recognised: it can be said that, thanks to a genuine European economic migration policy, immigration can represent an opportunity for Europe and its labour market. In some sectors it is even reported that there is a need for certain professionals that cannot be fulfilled by the supply of European workers. As the rapporteur also points out, economic migration is without doubt an extremely sensitive subject for the Member States. I note with great satisfaction, however, that the European public debate on the Green Paper has in some way eased the reluctance of the Member States, which, in certain cases, absolutely refused in principle to tackle the issue of legal migration at European level, and which have now realised that only a policy of this type can bring about real added value.
Finally, I would like to expand on the two extremely important topics of integration and the protection of immigrants. With regard to the first, you are all aware that the proposal that was drafted by myself and approved by the Commission gives particular prominence to integration. In my opinion, integration is an essential part of the European immigration policy. In the second half of 2005, I intend to present a communication on establishing a coherent European framework of integration policies. I am well aware that integration is essentially a national issue, that is to say, that it is incumbent on the Member States to take responsibility for the actual integration policies, but I believe that Europe must not stop encouraging the Member States and intervening to assist them in their integration policies. I believe that without integration, which requires education and access to social services, it is unlikely that we will have a genuinely effective European immigration policy. On this point, I call for Parliament’s vigorous support in order to overcome the difficulties that some Member States still have with the idea of tackling the issue of integration partly through European, and not exclusively national, action. I say this because later in the year we will discuss the Commission’s proposal regarding a European fund for supplementing, but not replacing, national policies on integration.
I have referred to the protection of immigrants because two aspects are involved. The first is the need to obtain reliable data and statistics on immigration. The Commission intends to present a proposal for a regulation laying down the criteria for obtaining statistical data that in many cases we do not currently have, making it extremely difficult to outline a European policy. The protection of immigrants will have to be aimed primarily at the innocent victims of the traffic in human beings, organised by criminal gangs: I am referring in particular to women and children. With regard to these two categories of particularly vulnerable victims of the traffic in human beings – as I have mentioned on other occasions, including in this House – the Commission will present specific protection and safeguard proposals, in order to stamp out trafficking in human beings, on the one hand, and to protect the victims, on the other."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples