Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-06-Speech-3-137"
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"en.20070606.15.3-137"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I agree with all those who have said that we need action rather than mere words. And the Council has indeed been taking action in recent months. The Council ensured that the centralised record of available technical equipment, the Frontex toolbox, was stocked up and that Frontex, at least in principle, has more than 100 ships, aircraft and helicopters at its disposal. With the support of this Parliament, the Council ensured that the Regulation on the RABITs, the Rapid Border Intervention Teams, could be adopted. There will be a Frontex operation in the waters around Malta, where we shall try, with the assistance of experts from the Member States and the support of helicopters from the Member States, to put an end to this human tragedy. I must say, however, that it would have been better if we had been able to launch these operations a few weeks earlier. That is a responsibility we must all accept collectively.
In the past few months we also agreed, in response to a proposal from the Commission, to implement regional protection programmes in countries of origin and transit. We took positive action by agreeing on the conclusion of partnership agreements and by discussing incentives for legal immigration and circular migration. We are engaged in negotiations on the subject of readmission agreements with countries in Africa and elsewhere. All of these things are taking us in the right direction. It is nevertheless true that many of these measures have come too late and that it would have been better for the people concerned if more rapid and efficient action had been taken.
Mrs Hennis-Plasschaert, I think this is also attributable to the lack of efficiency in the Council’s decision-making procedure. It is unfortunate that the European Constitution has not yet entered into force, because the European Constitution and the reforms it provides for would enable us to take the necessary decisions much more swiftly and much more efficiently.
In the coming days and weeks we shall have to ensure that we live up to our humanitarian responsibility for the people in distress. We shall also have to ensure that we do not leave Malta in the lurch. Malta is a small country with a great responsibility in the area in question. For this reason Malta is entitled to the solidarity of the European Union.
Thirdly, we shall have to ensure that none of the action we take creates new pull factors that lead to more and more people trying to make their way to Europe, because we shall otherwise run the risk of multiplying rather than alleviating the human misery. This is why I firmly believe that the Council will summon up the strength to send out a clear signal at its meeting next week."@en1
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