Brussels, 09/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - At the “EPP Study Days” on Friday 6 May, which took place at Palermo, the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, confirmed that the European Commission was to present a communication entitled “Partnership for migration, mobility and security with the Southern Mediterranean”. This will be Europe's contribution to changing societies in revolution. “We have set three priorities which cannot be taken separately from each other: to help with democratic change, to promote a reinforced partnership with civil society and to lend our support to sustainable and fair economic development”, Barroso said (our translation). “We have therefore offered them a partnership for democracy and shared prosperity. This is the expression of our willingness to go further with them in setting in place ambitious political and economic reforms”, he added.
“It is up to these countries, to these societies, to take their own destiny in hand and to decide on their own future. But it would be wrong of us to remain indifferent to the changes underway and to the appeals of their young people, men and women, for more freedom, democracy and dignity”, the Commission president stressed. The EU, however, intends to help them: “through their union, our democracies will help these young shoots of democracy to take root and to grow”.
He explained that “the actual setting in place of this partnership will be adapted to the specific conditions of each of the countries and the pace of reform in each of them. It will be more for more; in other words, more reform for more support”.
Barroso laid emphasis on the efforts made off the coast of Tunisia, the first country to have accomplished a democratic revolution of this kind. And it is also with this country that the EU is facing the major challenge of stemming migratory flows from Tunisia and from Libya. “We are already working with Tunisia on a partnership of this kind, with the objective of being able to control the migratory flows better, in both of our interests. This will allow us to better manage the access of Tunisian workers to the European job market, and the mobility of Tunisian citizens within the Schengen area. But this access cannot be guaranteed without conditions: for its part, Tunisia must make sure that it controls its own borders, prevents illegal immigration, and cooperates in the readmission of illegal migrants. In this regard, it is also important that Tunisia can conclude an agreement on its working methods with Frontex, which will share its expertise and support with it. These are subjects I discussed with the president and prime minister of Tunisia during my visit to Tunis on 12 April and dialogue is now continuing at senior civil servant level.”
In his speech, he mentioned the impact of the Arab revolutions on the EU itself. “The upheaval the southern shores of the Mediterranean have experienced has therefore led us to revisit not only our neighbourhood policy, but also our approach to immigration”. He spoke out against the idea that European integration itself is in jeopardy. “It is no exaggeration to say that in the last two years, the European Union has been sailing in turbulent waters. We have had to face unprecedented challenges, both in economic and financial terms and at diplomatic level. But it would be a great mistake to intimate that the problem is European integration. We must, consistently and using concrete examples, refute any argument to that effect. We cannot leave the initiative to the populists of various stripes, to those people who exploit the fears of the citizens to turn them against Europe and the ideal of the greater European project. This means that we must have the political courage, we, the European institutions - Commission, European Parliament, Council - but also the capitals of our countries must have the political courage to defend Europe, to explain pedagogically what the challenges are, to show that sometimes, for complex problems, there are no easy solutions. And those who manipulate the complexity of the issues, trying to exploit base feelings, are wrong, and will not prevail. This is why we must continue to persevere in policies which call for more Europe, not less Europe, so that together, we can face the challenges ahead.” (F.B./transl.fl)