Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-27-Speech-3-039"
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"en.20060927.3.3-039"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, on such a sensitive subject, we really must avoid having a dialogue in which nobody listens. Instead, it is a good idea to begin to lay down some points of reference.
The first point of reference is the subject of immigration, which is a challenge for us all. We need only think about what happened this summer: once again, tens of thousands of people landed on Lampedusa and the Canaries, or it would be better to say that they arrived in Europe. Spain, Italy and sometimes Cyprus and Greece have often been merely gateways through which these people pour in, as they do not just stay by the gates.
As President Borrell Fontelles, Commissioner Frattini and now the President-in-Office of the Council have also pointed out, that is why it is not just a case of a humanitarian emergency or a one-off event; above all it is a structural problem, which is testing the whole European Union and its ability to implement a European immigration policy at last. Such a policy is needed not in order to do any particular Member State a favour, but because the Union as a whole is involved.
The second point of reference is that even those of us in positions of responsibility must not make the mistake of confusing immigration with terrorism, because that above all makes the people of Europe feel afraid and insecure. Instead, we should perhaps introduce a different paradigm: that of immigration and slavery, since many of these immigrants are beginning to be associated with that in certain Member States.
The third point of reference is more positive, however: we have to acknowledge that we are facing a new challenge for our civilisation to address. Such an awareness lies at the heart of the cultural and political leap that the Union has to make on immigration. It is not a marginal issue that only affects a few of us, but a new commitment that the Union needs to adopt as one of the new Millennium goals, and we have already clearly spelt out what that means.
Mr Frattini, Mr Rajamäki, we are aware that all of this will meet with considerable resistance from many governments, but if this Parliament has a role to play, then it is to exert pressure, to commit itself and to send out the message: ‘Let us do something about it.’ We need to tell the governments that are frightened that it is also a way to rebuild trust between the Union and its citizens, by showing that the Union exists and can make its presence felt."@en1
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