Brussels, 26/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - "Sweden wants to develop and move forward with a common asylum and immigration policy characterised by unity, humanity and justice. To do so, we need common rules and common standards at the highest possible level", declared Maj-Inger Klingvall, Swedish Minister for Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy, speaking before the EP's Committee on Justice and Home Affairs on 23 January. The Swedish Presidency of the EU attaches great importance to the question of the statute of temporary protection (refugees) and the reuniting of families (illegal immigrants), said Ms. Klingvall. To attain that objective, she stressed, there need to be "rules telling us what the rights are of citizens other than those of the EU wanting to settle and move around within the EU (…). It is essential that we protect people entering a country and ensure them their rights and that we discuss the problem of the shortage of labour in the EU and thus immigration to our countries". Regarding EU enlargement, Ms. Klingvall said that she wanted to "tackle (…) difficult issues like the free movement of persons".
The Swedish Presidency, Ms. Klingvall recalled, gives priority to the following issues: 1) directive on provisional protection (so as to welcome and protect large groups of people who must, for a limited amount of time, flee their country due to war or ethnic cleansing). The Presidency hopes for a political agreement in Council end-May; 2) directive on the conditions for receiving asylum-seekers; 3) the Dublin Convention; 4) Eurodac regulation. She also stressed: - the importance of having an EU legal instrument on the reunification of families; - importance, too, of statistics: a meeting of experts on the subject of asylum and immigration will be held in April, with the cooperation of the Commission and Eurostat, so as to try to establish common norms and common definitions providing "reasonable statistics in the matter".
As for border controls and illegal immigration, Ms. Klingvall said that the Swedish Presidency much appreciated the text of the French Presidency on visa policy and hoped that the European Parliament would accept it. Regarding the fight against trafficking in women and children for sexual purposes, she stressed the victims needed helping and recalled that Sweden had taken initiatives on cooperation between the EU and 10 countries of East and South East Asia. In addition, she said that should would continue talks with Albania, Sri Lanka, Turkey, India, Afghanistan and Somalia, and would continue to consult with third countries (Switzerland, Norway, Canada, United States, Australia, and, obviously, the applicant countries).
Answering questions put to her by MEPs, Ms. Klingvall turned to the following issues: - visas: "To manage free movement, we need to reduce the number of countries of which visas are demanded, but we must be sure of these countries"; - illegal immigration and asylum: "The question of the responsibility of carriers is on the agenda of the JHA Council, said Klingvall. As for citizens of third countries, she said that "we shall strive to ensure that refugees and immigrants with permanent residence or long-term permits have the same rights as EU citizens (…) Regarding the duration to obtain the same rights, we are waiting for the Commission's proposal in March. The working hypothesis is around five years". "Refugees who arrive in our countries must be included in the labour market and we must improve their living conditions. The Belgian Presidency in the second half of this year will firmly pursue this work", the President of the Council declared. Then, turning to the confusion often made between asylum and immigration, she stressed: "These are two distinct things. For immigration questions, we must maintain our overall perspective (…) and not forget our perspective of the defence of rights. I believe we must learn to see the positive side of the situation.