Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-05-10-Speech-2-484-000"
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"en.20110510.63.2-484-000"2
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".
Mr President, I do not share the opinion that the Commission’s communication is a good one. I am very sorry, but I do not think it is. I think it is over the top and misguided.
We are losing the European spirit. How can it in fact be the case that in this Union – in which one of our greatest achievements as regards fundamental freedoms is the freedom of movement of our citizens – suddenly two heads of government can simply arbitrarily render ineffective one of our really great achievements – that was an excellent phrase you used in your speech – because of a marginal problem that can easily be managed? How can that be possible? All that is needed for these people to win is for us not to fight sufficiently against it. I would therefore have liked to see you fight it.
I would just like to say one thing to you: I live on a border, in my case the German-Dutch-Belgian border between Aachen, Maastricht and Lüttich. If you can explain to me, Mrs Malmström, how the migration problem in the Mediterranean is going to be managed by my having to show my passport the next time I travel from Aachen to Maastricht – if you can explain that to me, please – then I would be very grateful.
We are not dealing here with a crisis in the European Union. When 400 000 people travel from Libya to Tunisia, that is a crisis for Tunisia. When 20 000 people cross the Mediterranean to Europe, that is not a crisis for Europe.
If the burden were sensibly spread across Europe then there would not be a problem at all. You gave the figures, Mr Weber. Nobody has got worked up over figures of such magnitude.
I therefore do not believe that what you have presented is good, Mrs Malmström, because you have failed to quote Article 78(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). I do not know whether you are familiar with it. Article 78(3) of TFEU states that in the event of one or more Member States being confronted by a sudden inflow of nationals of third countries, the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt provisional measures for the benefit of the Member State(s) concerned – after consulting the European Parliament, by the way. That is what Article 78(3) of the current Treaty says.
By the way, temporary border controls were introduced on the basis of the Schengen regime of 2006 for the European Football Championship and for the football World Cup as a defence against hooliganism. There is no need whatsoever to give support to a populist initiative by two heads of government – who have their backs against the wall in their countries and are looking for an escape route by populist means – by tabling such a communication.
Then what happened, President of the Commission? A Northern League interior minister in Italy says: Tunisians all speak French; that is good – it means we can give them Schengen residence permits and they can all head off to France. The French President then naturally asks whether they have a screw loose. All the Tunisians coming to Italy now want to go to France? You want to shove them onto us? In that case, we will close the border. At that, Prime Minister Berlusconi and the French President join forces to say that now we need border controls again because of the situation that we ourselves have brought about. What does the Commission then do? It tables a communication, instead of saying: ‘People, that is absolutely the wrong road to go down. You cannot deprive the citizens of Europe of one of their fundamental freedoms in such a way.’ That is what I would have expected of you."@en1
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