Brussels, 14/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - At its meeting in Luxembourg on 13 June, chaired by Mariano Rajoy Rey (see yesterday's EUROPE pages 9 and 10), the Home Affairs Council had a debate on the problem of illegal immigration and the management of the external border of EU Member states, a debate which highlighted the need for a balanced and coherent approach to all questions relating to immigration, asylum policy and the fight against illegal immigration, as well as the need to swiftly establish concrete deadlines for implementing concrete measures.
The plan for the management of the external borders of EU Member states is devised as a practical guide providing for the measures to apply gradually to reach an adequate level of security of these borders, the Council presidency explains in its proposal. The plan is accompanied by a scoreboard that makes a distinction between measures and actions to implement in the short term (in a one year period) and the medium-term (between 3 and 5 years) according to the nature of the measure concerned. One of the plan's goals is to establish priorities for immediate operational actions, as well as a coherent framework for joint action in the medium- and long-term. The recommended guidelines and measures have a progressive nature and are devised to, initially, allow for a development of the Schengen acquis in the context of the current Treaties (Norway and Iceland having to be involved). Finally, the management plan describes the acquis communautaire and existing operational practices, the aim being a diagnosis of the needs of a Union in the process of expanding! On the basis of this diagnosis, the plan proposes the development of a common policy for the management of the external borders of EU Member states, integrating different components, considered as inseparable one from the other. The plan is structured as follows: 1) description of the situation concerning crossing external borders (legal and institutional framework, operational practices; difficulties in implementing the Schengen acquis, main needs identified); 2) measures and actions for an integrated management of borders: the common policy should comprise at least five interdependent components: a common mechanism for co-ordination and operational co-operation; a common and integrated assessment of risks, personnel and inter-operational equipment, a common corpus of legislation, a share of the burden between Member states and the EU; 3) European border-guard corps.
Furthermore, regarding measures to prevent and combat illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings by sea, the Council adopted conclusions stressing the need for an integrated approach and the use of all available instruments in the framework of the EU's external relations, according to the following guidelines: systematic evaluation of relations with third countries, immediate political reaction by the EU in case of a mass entry of illegal immigrants, support for third countries prepared to co-operate with the EU (control and interception of ships serving for the traffic in migrants and human beings; readmission of immigrants having illegally arrived in the EU from these countries). The Council, notably, emphasised better contacts between liaison officers with the countries concerned (mainly Albania), as well as prevention measures. Spain defended the text "very aggressively", whereas the Commission and other delegations were a little critical on the issue of dialogue and then sanctions, "comparable to that of Cotonou" (agreement with ACP countries), explained a spokesperson. This text will be on the table of Monday's General Affairs Council, then forwarded to the Seville Summit.