Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-16-Speech-4-044-000"
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"en.20120216.5.4-044-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr López Aguilar has just said that it is a valid question and, honourable Members, the number, the quality and the liveliness of your speeches, which express very different points of view, show that it is indeed a pertinent and relevant question.
I would like to finish by pointing out to Ms Mathieu and to Mr Mulder that the Commission has launched an open procedure, without prejudice, without ideology and, depending on the results of this consultation, we will decide what action to take. There are several options, which I mentioned in my first speech and will therefore remind you of. The most important of these are interpretative guidelines, which could be an effective instrument if accompanied by other tools, such as groups of experts and an in-depth dialogue with each Member State. If necessary, other provisions or other measures could be taken, but let us take the time to properly assess the results of this consultation, which will end on 1 March, and the Commission will act, encouraged by your own debate and your own recommendations.
Once again, whatever follow-up action the Commission takes, we are going to ensure that the current EU rules on family reunification are implemented correctly and that – and I repeat this for a second time – infringement proceedings are not excluded, should this course of action become necessary.
In any case, I thank you very much and I thank your rapporteur, Mr López Aguilar, for raising this issue, and I note – and I will tell Ms Malmström – that the liveliness and number of the speeches demonstrate that that is a very topical issue.
I should like to thank you, Mr López Aguilar, on behalf of my colleague, Cecilia Malmström, for having asked it, as it gives the Commission the opportunity to review the state of this consultation.
I would like to point out, echoing the comments made by Véronique Mathieu, Ms Sargentini, Ms Lambert and Ms Flašíková Beňová, that each of them, and others too, have highlighted the differences between the Member States in the application of current legislation. Honourable Members, it is precisely to fully understand, properly analyse and address the problem of this divergent application – which is different from one Member State to another – that the Commission has launched this consultation, which will be completed on 1 March, and in which all those who have something to say must participate.
To fully understand, to make, as Mr Iacolino said, an attempt at clarity, is to accurately assess the imperfections of the current directive – I am thinking of what was said by Mr Moraes just now, recalling his personal testimony, because he himself is, he said, a product of family reunification.
I would also like to say, echoing the comments of Ms Guillaume, Mr Triantaphyllides, Mr Pirker and Ms Zuber, to whom I have listened, that, for the Commission, it is clear that family reunification is a tool for integration. For it to be implemented, consideration must naturally be given to the capacity of the individual States. That is what Mr Busuttil said, with great wisdom. Mr Busuttil also recalled the special case at this particular time, which is the exceptionally difficult situation in which Greece finds itself, and I wish to confirm that, as regards the capacity of Greece, Mr Busuttil, the Commission will continue to support a number of projects to improve the reception capacity of that country.
Ms Wikström, I would like to echo what you said by saying that it is indeed in response to the calls made under the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum and in the Stockholm Programme, and also in response to the very long list of problems identified in your 2008 report, that the Commission launched this consultation. We hope and, on behalf of Ms Malmström, I call for this issue to be studied and examined, completely, objectively and with reason – that is the word used by Ms Hohlmeier, who just now appealed to reason, with eyes open, without prejudice – I am using your words, Mr López Aguilar. We hope that this consultation will ensure the reasoned and objective examination of all the elements.
I am also going to say to a number of you, who brought up the case of a particular Member State – Ms Sargentini, Ms in ’t Veld, Mr de Jong, Mr Zijlstra and Ms Bozkurt – that the pre-entry measures, which can be taken in any country, are not in themselves in breach of the directive. On the other hand, they are only acceptable to the Commission if they serve to facilitate integration and if they comply with the principle of proportionality. In this spirit, Ms Guillaume and Ms Wikström asked if the Commission has initiated infringement proceedings. At this stage, the Commission has not initiated infringement proceedings. The directive gives Member States wide discretion – I have just pointed out that they could use it, but only in certain proportions – and it has not identified violations of specific provisions of the directive.
However, the directive is not very specific. That is why we have launched this public consultation. The Commission continuously monitors the implementation of this directive by the Member States and, as I have already said, it is prepared, if necessary, to have recourse to infringement proceedings.
Mr Claeys, if you see abuses – you spoke of this situation yourself – this consultation allows Member States to give us the facts and the statistics to enable us to fully understand the problems or the abuses and to know whether, at the end of this consultation, we need to propose a change."@en1
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