Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-31-Speech-4-013"
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"en.20080131.4.4-013"2
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"I am happy to be here with you today and to take part in such an important debate. The implementation of policies in the field of justice and internal affairs is of extreme importance for our citizens. With the development of our society and modern technologies, the question of security has become one of the most important issues for our citizens. I think that we, as representatives of the Council, the Commission and Parliament, have the same aims: to secure conditions for cooperation between Member States which will offer our citizens an appropriate level of security.
Two years ago we began debating two items of legislation which were intended to enable a giant leap in the quality of our cooperation. The first was a decision to establish Europol as a European agency, and the other was to incorporate the Treaty of Prüm into European legislation. In accordance with the new legal basis, Europol will be able to respond more rapidly to changing trends in terrorism and organised crime and it will further improve its analytical capacity and ability to support the Member States. This will substantially help in a more effective struggle against the organised crime and terrorist organisations which are active in several States of the European Union. The incorporation of the Treaty of Prüm will enable a faster exchange of DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data from national databases.
The two previous Presidencies, Germany and Portugal, have done everything to assist the adoption of both items of legislation by the end of our three Presidencies. In accordance with the programme which I presented to your colleagues in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, we are planning to reach a consensus on both items by June of this year. In view of their importance, a delay in adopting them would not be justified, especially as we have already approved them and harmonised them among the Member States and among all three institutions to this current level. As for the legislation still awaiting debate, the Presidency is willing to cooperate closely with Parliament on a case-by-case basis and in the spirit of joint responsibility for their adoption. Both institutions will thereby share responsibility for the security of EU citizens and in other areas.
The Council is currently discussing proposals for legislation of general application to do with combating all forms of organised crime and terrorism. This mainly concerns data gathering and exchange procedures and also applies to cooperation within Europol. We are also discussing legislation relating to specific problems and specific criminal activities.
In addition to the proposal to incorporate the Treaty of Prüm and the decision on Europol, we are currently building on the measures for preventing undesirable persons from entering the territory of the European Union. I am personally involved in the efforts to accelerate the development of the second generation of the Schengen information system. We are preparing to accelerate the adoption of legislation that will make it easier to use the visa information system. In external affairs, we are working hard with the countries of the western Balkans and Russia to prepare regional assessments of threats from organised crime.
This month the Council started to debate the first of two proposals for directives on legal immigration. After the first meeting of working groups, where the debate concerned highly qualified workers, the Presidency felt that there was a wide consensus on the application of the directive. We hope that further debate will identify the key political issues by the end of our Presidency, and we will then hand the dossier on to the French Presidency so that work can continue effectively.
For two years now, Parliament and the Council have been debating the proposal for a directive on the return of third country citizens who are living illegally in the European Union. The debate is focused on several specific issues on which the institutions have very different opinions. The Presidency will continue to do its utmost to reach an agreement with Parliament that will enable the directive to be adopted as soon as possible, preferably at first reading. However, we must be careful that this directive does not make the return procedures worse and thus reduce the effectiveness of our policies in the fight against illegal migration.
In deepening this dialogue with the countries of origin and transit, the Council will continue to strive for the ongoing implementation of global approaches to problems of migration, emphasising that they have to be included and that there has to be a geographic balance. Our attention will thus be focused on north Africa and south-eastern Europe."@en1
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