Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-04-Speech-1-200-000"
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"en.20110404.19.1-200-000"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, the original plan was for this debate to be much narrower, covering only the Provera report. The Conference of Presidents decided to extend its scope, and so we are now discussing – and quite rightly too – current reactions to the influx of people who are, for the most part, refugees. For we cannot call them illegal immigrants, because they are refugees – from Syria and, above all, from North Africa, which is currently engulfed in revolutionary turmoil. Our debate is now also focusing on an overall assessment of the European Union’s current asylum and immigration policy.
As shadow rapporteur for the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) on the Provera report, however, I would like to return to this document. I would like to raise two issues in connection with it, which, in my opinion, are absolutely vital. Firstly, I would like to say how much I welcome the fact that the report discusses the need for greater synergy between two key pillars of European policy, namely, development and security. The lesson we are learning today from the revolutionary events in North Africa tells us that aid provided only via official channels and distributed by the departments of dictator-led governments does not solve the social problems of people living in countries covered by EU aid policy. EU aid must genuinely help ordinary people to solve social problems, instead of lining the pockets of dictators and those in power.
Not only economic reform, but also reform in terms of democracy and human rights should be a prerequisite for the granting of development aid. Today, we are seeing that young people from those parts of the world in which we are interested and which are covered by our development policy not only want bread, but also freedom and democracy.
Secondly, in view of the demographic challenges facing Europe, it is becoming clear that the European Union will not cope with the problems already appearing on the horizon for the labour market without a coherent and genuinely rational immigration policy. The only thing that can prevent the influx into Europe of the least educated and most needy migrants looking for their place in the world is a well thought-out and coherent migration policy, as previous speakers have mentioned, such as those operated by Canada and New Zealand."@en1
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