Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-06-Speech-3-125"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the President-in-Office of the Council, Mr Altmeier, has said a great deal and I agree with the position he has taken. I shall certainly emphasise one essentially political aspect of it, which is the requirement to tackle the immigration issue by combining the need to stop the traffic in human beings and any kind of illegal activity with the absolute need for solidarity, and solidarity means first and foremost saving human lives in danger.
Finally, where does the responsibility lie and what kind of solidarity is needed for the initial reception of immigrants when they first arrive and have to be received in conditions commensurate with human dignity, which are inalienable and non-negotiable? Who should take the responsibility and how should we share out the tasks among the Member States? Again, can we expect a small country in the middle of the Mediterranean to do it all alone? That would not be an example of solidarity among the Member States, so that is another aspect with which we should be concerned. The European Union can do a great deal in that respect: it can help to fund and organise repatriation operations in the countries of origin in compliance with the rules that guarantee the absolute dignity of everyone being repatriated. Of course, all immigrants, even illegal ones, have every right to respect for their human dignity, but we cannot impose our views if there are any Member States that refuse to play their part.
That is the solidarity to which I am referring, and those are the guiding principles to ensure that the tragedy that occurred a few days ago – it is not a question of accusing or blaming anyone for it, but of learning a tragic lesson – can never happen again.
When we are faced with the risk of losing even a single human life, as has quite rightly been mentioned and as we emphasise in our joint statement, strictly legal questions concerning the implementation of international conventions on maritime law – which also needs to be done rigorously and thoroughly – take second place. Human lives in danger need to be saved first. Of course, solidarity is not just that.
Solidarity lies at the basis of the global approach that the Commission is taking, in the wake of the unanimous support given by the European Council last December and in strict collaboration with the German Presidency of the European Union in this first half of the year. First and foremost, there must be solidarity among the EU Member States, which means that every State in the Union, even those that are convinced that they are less affected by the daily immigration tragedy, must understand that the problem is also theirs and concerns the whole EU, with no exceptions. It would seem to be an obvious decision, then, to provide patrols in the Atlantic Ocean to support Spain, which would otherwise have to face the enormous flow of migrants to the Canary Islands all alone, or a patrol in the Mediterranean to meet the demands of countries like Malta or Cyprus, the smallest Mediterranean members of the EU, not to mention the larger ones.
All the Member States must play their part in the patrols, and I shall very amicably tell all the ministers next week that not enough has yet been done or is being done, after the commitment to make equipment available. That is the first aspect of solidarity among the Member States.
Then there is a financial aspect to solidarity. The sums needed to introduce the patrols and to offer people in difficulty protection and a decent reception need to be shared. In that respect, ladies and gentlemen, I am forced to appeal to you as well, with my usual sincerity. This Parliament is still holding in reserve EUR 12.7 million that is vitally needed right now, not in a week’s time, if the Frontex missions are to continue. I respect this Parliament's decisions, but I must say quite frankly that if the reserve, which is due to be examined on about 24-25 June, is only released at the end of this month, we run the risk of having to stop the Frontex missions in the central Mediterranean and the Canaries owing to lack of funds. Immediate steps are needed to release the funds, which are available but have been put on one side.
There is another matter that has to do with solidarity: our commitment to the other countries involved. We have promised to work more closely with the countries of origin and of transit. We have said very clearly that we want them to contribute effectively and that we are ready to help the countries of origin through a system of legal, regular and monitored immigration. We put forward a clear proposal on this subject two weeks ago.
At the same time we are asking for support from the countries of origin and of transit to prevent human trafficking and to explain very clearly to all those who want to set off across the Atlantic or Mediterranean that they will be embarking on a journey not to riches but into serious danger. What is needed before anything else, therefore, is political cooperation, not police cooperation, so as to create the conditions for providing even clearer information on this issue in the countries of origin, information that is currently lacking. Conversely, Europe is ready to welcome people who want to work honestly and within the law. As we all know, such people are needed in many Member States where there is a shortage of labour. That is another aspect of solidarity.
Then there is an important form of solidarity in receiving immigrants, including illegal ones. It is my conviction that every Member State has a duty to do all it can to save human lives at sea, but it is also necessary for the other Member States to realise that we cannot leave Malta, for example, to bear the whole burden of receiving all the immigrants saved in the middle of the Mediterranean by Maltese vessels. The situation requires solidarity and also a politically based outline agreement to determine where we can receive the immigrants that arrive in the most exposed countries. This is another face of solidarity: offering to receive immigrants in a broader range of Member States, and not just in those that are in the front line. That is another point on which we have to find an agreement in principle, which sadly has not yet been found.
I think we will have to address a further issue at the Council of Ministers next week: who is responsible for patrolling the search and rescue regions on the high seas that come under third-country responsibility? The case of Libya has been mentioned. According to international conventions, every country has a region of the open sea where it is responsible for search and rescue on the high seas. What happens if a non-EU country like Libya does not carry out its search and rescue duty at sea? What can we Europeans do to intervene in that region? Who should take responsibility? These are rules that need to be established and do not yet exist. The problem concerns the implementation of international conventions, not of European laws. The time has come, however, to address this subject within the EU, and I think it will be a good idea to start debating this as well at the Council of Ministers next week."@en1
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