Brussels, 19/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to the President of the European Council, Jose Maria Aznar, the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, mentioned the three key subjects of the European Council at the end of the week in Seville. Some extracts from Prodi's letter:
Immigration. " At the beginning of June I wrote to you offering my strong support for your decision to push the issue of illegal immigration to the top of our agenda in Seville. Immigration-related issues have increasingly become, in the eyes of the majority of our citizens, associated with questions of security; questions which our citizens expect Europe to answer as we builds an area of freedom, security and justice. We must address these concerns. Detailed and often complex work on legal immigration and asylum has been underway for a number of years. It is part of the balanced set of objectives that we agreed in Tampere in autumn 2000. Yet that work risks getting bogged down unless we are seen to be responding in a determined way to widespread public concern about illegal immigration. There is much we can do if we act together and mobilise our considerable assets, both internally and externally, to tackle this problem. However, focusing on illegal immigration must not lead us to neglect other equally important aspects of the migration question, particularly the issue of ensuring the harmonious integration of our existing immigrant population. We must send a clear message to our citizens. We will be tough on illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings it so often entails because this is a crime and an affront to human rights. But legal immigration is good for Europe. It is source of vitality and energy which an ageing Europe needs. The multicultural nature of our societies is now a reality and we must be willing to embrace all the adjustments necessary to make multiculturalism and ethnic diversity succeed, respecting the fundamental values of our free and democratic societies."
Enlargement and institutional reform." In Seville we will take stock of the considerable progress made under your Presidency in the enlargement negotiations. We must now give the process a further push as the home strait of the negotiations comes into view. This includes deciding in due course on the issue of direct payments under the Common Agricultural Policy where I believe the Commission's approach offers the best prospects for success. … The Nice Treaty has introduced the institutional reforms needed for enlargement to happen, but many practical issues affecting our day to day work remain. How will responsibilities be divided in a Commission from 2004 of between 25 and 30 Members? How will Council or even our Summits function effectively when a "tour de table" may take up to four hours? How can we ensure a strategic direction and coherent action within an enlarged Union? … As far as the Commission is concerned, I believe that we need to reorganise responsibilities within the College around a limited number of essential tasks and rationalise our decision-making process. Such steps can ensure that better organisation can go hand in hand with a better, more effective and democratic form of governance at a European level. The Commission brings to this its experience of reshaping its administration and its efforts to improve European Governance, most recently through the Action Plan on Better Regulation, which, I sincerely hope, will prompt us in Seville to set ourselves the target of concluding an interinstitutional agreement before the end of 2002. Thus we would improve the quality of Community legislation and the relevant procedures for its adoption. Only a concerted action will allow us to achieve both "better organisation" and "better regulation" of all institutions."
Johannesburg. "The European Council must give a renewed boost to the preparation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg if we are to achieve the ambitious objective that we set a year ago in Gothenburg. We cannot allow the multilateral agenda to derail because of the US farm bill and developing countries' doubts about European sincerity in granting market access, finance and to reduce our trade distorting subsidies. The recent FAO World Food Summit in Rome was a disappointment. A failure in Johannesburg could have wider repercussions on growth and trade", writes Prodi, stressing the need to "reassure the world that we are serious in implementing the commitments taken in Monterrey and Doha".