Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-07-Speech-2-400-000"

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"Mr President, I will take both questions at the same time because they are almost identical. They address the challenge of maintaining and further developing Schengen in view of the migration crisis. I did briefly touch on this in my reply to Mr Papanikolaou’s question, but these elements should, of course, be kept in mind in this context as well. In the question, Ms Ludford expressed concerns that the negotiations on the new Schengen evaluation and suspension rules might be lengthy and difficult to agree upon and asked the Commission to prioritise launching infringement procedures against Member States in breach of Schengen rules instead. Let me be very clear on this: infringement of Schengen rules cannot be tolerated, but one element does not exclude the other. We are also planning to follow a parallel approach. We are the guardians of EU law. The Commission will continue to make sure that the Schengen rules are correctly applied and respected by everybody. The basis of our work needs to be the existing legislation. I am convinced that the current legislation can cater for a vast majority of the situations. Where there are any differences in interpretation or implementation, the Commission should consult the Member States in question and clarify the rules. This can be done by issuing guidelines or recommendations. The Commission is ready to use all available means to ensure the correct application of EU law, including launching infringement procedures whenever such action is necessary. At the same time, we will work on the preventive measures which should help us to avoid infringement procedures. In this context, we now have ongoing negotiations between the Commission, Parliament and the Council with a view to establishing a more efficient evaluation system for Schengen. We are currently considering whether and how to complement this evaluation mechanism in order to create mutual trust and ensure a coherent application of the rules. Regarding the Danish Government’s plan regarding controls on the Danish internal borders, which Ms Koppa referred to, you will, of course, be aware that the President of the Commission wrote to the Danish Prime Minister immediately, pointing out that the first analysis by the Commission raised major doubts about whether the proposed measures would be in line with Denmark’s obligations under European and international law. President Barroso emphasised that Member States may not carry out systematic intra-EU border controls of goods or people and urged Denmark to refrain from taking unilateral steps. We are now analysing the information provided by Denmark and will then decide on further action. Ms Koppa also asked whether the Commission will propose a revision of the principle of exclusive responsibility of the state of first illegal entry. I would like to underline that this is a principle according to which a person found irregularly on the territory of a Member State is returned to the state of first entry into the EU. It is a specific rule under the Dublin Regulation, which establishes that the Member States have to assess which Member State is responsible for examining an asylum application lodged on their territory. It is therefore not an instrument designed to respond to the challenges related to irregular migration. In the Commission proposal for a recast of the Dublin Regulation, this principle remains untouched. The Member States that play the biggest role in the applicant’s entry into the EU should be responsible for examining his or her application for asylum. The European Parliament expressed overwhelming support for this in its vote on the proposal in May 2009. This support was confirmed by the vote in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs in November last year."@en1
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