"Management of Migration flows" - Speech by EU Commission VP Frattini

Speech by Vice President Franco Frattini, European Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, "Management of Migration flows" at the Joint debate - Freedom, Security and Justice - Immigration (EU Parliament), Strasbourg

I express my profound satisfaction for the excellent cooperation with the Finnish Presidency, Minister Rajamaki and Minister Luhtanen, and the European Parliament (particularly the LIBE Committee and its President, Mr. Cavada).

Implementing and developing further The Hague Programme is a common goal. This calls for effective decision-making and requires clear political priorities to make a real difference. The strategic political goal remains striking the right balance between improving security of citizens and promoting and protecting fundamental rights of people.

It is clear that for the European Union the fight against terrorism and the management of migration flows are the main, current priorities.

As already stressed in Tampere, I consider that our efforts in the fight against terrorism at EU level need to focus on key areas such as fighting radicalisation and recruitment, misuse of the internet by terrorists, prevention and detection of the misuse of explosives, protection of critical infrastructures, bio-preparedness and transport security.

I am also convinced that any new security measure, especially in relation to air transport, must not bring about a disproportionate reaction which, would hand a victory to terrorism.

Security is at the centre of my action and we will assess carefully the effect and the proportionality of any decision which will be taken in this field. Fight against terrorism and defence of individual rights should go hand in hand.

Migration

The Commission decided to set up a Commissioners' Group on Migration Issues, I have the privilege of coordinating this groups which brings together all policy areas (Justice and Home Affairs, development, employment, education and training, regional policy, economic issues, external relations and European Neighbourhood policy) relevant for migration management.

This comprehensive approach involves legal and illegal immigration, as well as integration. Solidarity, in the form of financial support and the deployment of experts and equipment to our common borders, is also an essential element of this approach. While the focus is clearly on migration from Africa, such an approach has to take into account also migratory movements from other regions of the world, particularly from the Eastern neighbours, some countries of origine of many kinds of illegal trafficking.

In the field of illegal immigration, as you know we have been taking many practical measures recently, in particular in relation to migration flows affecting southern Member States.

FRONTEX, in particular, has been very active in coordinating assistance to concerned Member States (for example, in the Canary islands) and further operations are planned in the short term in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea. Solidarity means concretely helping MS under pressure. Funds and equipments, boats, helicopters, airplanes are necessary. For the period 2007-2013, the Frontex agency will have € 272 million, which I deem insufficient to deal with the growing phenomenon of migration. Next year, the budget of the Agency will be some € 21 million and I hope that the EP will accept to increase further this financial envelope.

Additional financial support has also been provided to the most concerned Member States - Spain, Malta and Italy in particular - via the ARGO programme. In this regard, I would like to mention that last week the Commission decided to fund six emergency projects in the above countries with a total funding of 3.28 € million.

The Commission has also adopted a package of measures to help Mauritania in its efforts to contain the flow of illegal migrants to the Canary Islands. Under the Rapid Reaction Mechanism an amount of money has been made available for that purpose.

As concerns the management of the southern external maritime border I presented to the informal Tampere Council a set of recommendations for operational measures to be taken in the short term - that is, by summer 2007.

These recommendations include:

(1) the setting up of an operational command centre in the relevant regions to coordinate a Mediterranean coastal patrol network;

(2) exploring the establishment of a European surveillance system in order to link up the existing national surveillance systems;

(3) making the pooling of assets a reality, with equipment made available by all Member States to be put at disposal, at short notice, of a Member State requesting assistance;

(4) exploring options for establishing asylum expert s' teams (in close cooperation with IOM and UNHCR);

(5) making the maximum and the best use of current and future financial instruments.

The above measures aim at strengthening the capacity of the Community to manage and prevent the kind of situations we have seen this year and should be taken in parallel with the implementation of the Global Approach on migration adopted by the European Council last December. It is matter of ensuring an immediate political response based on tangible European solidarity and a sharing of responsibilities.

This of course means - as recently stressed by President Barroso himself and by myself in Tampere - that it is of the utmost importance that all Member States of the Union continue working together in a spirit of solidarity, not least to assist those southern Member States most affected today by illegal migration from Africa. It must be absolutely clear that it is up to Member States to provide the assets that are required to make the joint operations a success. We made a first start. The size of the problem, however, is as such that much more is needed.

In this regard, I also hope that as from next spring the EU can make use of the Rapid Border Intervention Teams, so that teams of national experts - coordinated by FRONTEX - will be able to provide quick technical and operational assistance to Member States requesting it.

Addressing migration in a comprehensive manner also implies we develop a structural approach and reinforce the integration of migration in the EU's external policies. This includes looking at the root causes of migration and development issues. The Commission is making serious efforts to make migration an integral part of its development policy and is engaging in particular with African countries on this.

In particular, we must give priority to the implementation of the Action Plan agreed in Rabat last July and to the preparation of a successful EU-Pan African Conference on migration with the African Union that is likely to take place in November in Tripoli

We should also strengthen our cooperation with North-African countries, in particular Algeria, Morocco and Libya on migration issues, including the issue of international protection, which necessitates a regional response. In this regard both EU Member States and North African states need to take responsibility for those in need of international protection, including asylum-seekers. Refugee protection is another important part of my portfolio, and I am happy to announce that the 2 Regional Programmes will start in the coming weeks.

We should also ensure that illegal migrants are returned to their countries. In this respect the Commission is ready to support the efforts of Member States, politically, diplomatically and financially.

And we should also not forget another important element in fighting illegal immigration, i.e. the need to reinforce the fight against the illegal work which is a key pull-factor for illegal immigration. As already mentioned in the July Commission Communication on illegal migration, we are currently reflecting at the elaboration of a legislative instrument harmonising penal sanctions against employers of illegally staying migrants. Obviously, Member States would have to take immediate measures in this direction so as to address the issue of illegal work.

In relation to legal migration, it is important to emphasize that the implementation of the Policy Plan on Legal Migration is a priority for the Commission. By eliminating illegal work and creating admission procedures for legal migrants, Europe will set up a virtuous circle, or should I say a positive structure of incentives.

The Commission is convinced of the necessity of a common approach to managing economic immigration, as an additional means to achieve the Lisbon's objectives and tackle the negative effects of demographic ageing, in order to foster the EU economy and competitiveness.

In particular, to contribute to economic growth, it is fundamental that Europe becomes first of all a real pole of attraction for highly skilled immigrants. The idea of proposing a directive on the conditions of admission to the EU for highly skilled workers - including the possibility of an EU green card - responds to this economic necessity. Europe continues to receive low-skilled or unskilled labour, while USA, Canada and Australia are able to attract talented migrants. In parallel, proper measures are being studied to avoid growing risk of brain drain.

A proposal for a directive on the rights of legal immigrants in employment constitutes the other pillar of the Commission's policy in this field for the next years.

Both proposals will be presented in the second half of 2007, under the Portuguese Presidency.

Last but not least, I would like stress another important element of EU immigration policy: integration of migrants. As highlighted in the Common Agenda for Integration which I put forward in September 2005, reinforced integration efforts are a crucial element for a common EU immigration policy to be successful. I strongly hope that, after the Council will have endorsed this global EU strategy on immigration, also the EU Council in October will do the same.

Improving decision making - Passerelle clauses

In Tampere we also discussed how to improve decision-making in the JLS field, in particular by using the so-called "passerelle" or bridging clauses (i.e. Articles 42 TEU and 67(2) TEC).

As you know, the Commission's position has always been very close to the Parliament's on this issue, since we consider that the bridging clauses represent an appropriate and important tool at disposal of the Union and the Member States to ensure more efficiency, transparency and accountability of the decision making process.

The debate in Tampere has been very open and constructive. All Member States agreed about the need to move forward, while some of them have expressed fears that a decision on the passerelle now would pre-empt the debate on re-launching the constitutional process.

We believe that this is not the case. We will be of course among the first to welcome a positive outcome of the exploration the future German Presidency intends carrying out in 2007. And we will give them our full support.

Nevertheless, we have to prepare ourselves to the situation where the passerelle may represent the unique way to address the urgent need that all of us share. I agree that we need the constitution but if we wait then it is possible to be paralysed. And in any case when the Constitutional Treaty will be in force, the passerelle clause will be automatically incorporated in it. As I said in Tampere, I believe that Europe is like a bicycle, either it goes ahead or it falls to the ground. And it was only by going ahead faster than others that my compatriot Bettini won the World Championship of cycling few days ago.

We have therefore to continue this very important political discussion, building upon the common goodwill showed by Member States in Tampere. We will have a chance to decide how move forward this important dossier at the next Justice and Home Affairs Council, which takes place in Luxembourg in few days.

Citizens do want Europe more effective in taking decisions. Practitioners, judges, prosecutors, police authorities want more effective instruments to fight organized crime and terrorism.

We can't accept civile society be faster than our policies! We have to respond now if we want to be credible, not only after tragic events as it happened in the past.

See also: European Parliament sets out its views on immigration

| Arriba |

• Strengthening the comprehensive European migration policy and providing new impetus (30/11/2006)
• "Migration and Development: time for creative and courageous approaches" - Speech by EU Commissioner Frattini (22/11/2006)
• The EU meets the entire African continent in Tripoli to launch a partnership on migration and development (20/11/2006)
• Migration et développement: Louis Michel entame une tournée en Afrique de l'Ouest (24/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Strengthening of Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean Region (23/10/2006)
• Entry into force of European rules on the qualification and status of persons in need of international protection (10/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (14/9/2006)
• High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (12/9/2006)
• High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development (5/9/2006)
• Statement by EU Commission Vice-President Frattini: EU Action on Immigration  (30/8/2006)
• Euro-Africa Conference on Migration and Development: the EU and West, Central and North African countries expected to agree concrete cooperation (7/7/2006)