Brussels, 04/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Italian Minister for European Affairs, Rocco Buttiglione, Vice-President designate of the Barroso Commission with responsibility for Justice and Home Affairs, will be heard twice by the MEPs: on 5 October by the parliament's committee on liberties, and on 6 October by the legal committee.
In his answers to the MEPs' written questions before his "oral", Rocco Buttiglione told his former colleagues that his most relevant experience for this future post in the European Commission was his activity as a member of the EP's committee on justice and home affairs. As minister for European affairs, I set up a "Justice and Liberty" committee, which drew up a bill on the European Arrest Warrant, and "even though it was not submitted to the Parliament by the Justice minister, it still made an important contribution to the debate on the issue", he added. He said that "many amendments to the text currently being discussed in the [Italian] parliament are the fruit of this committee's work". When asked about the "lack of implementation or the incorrect implementation" of the framework-decision on the European Arrest Warrant in various Member States, Mr Buttiglione answered without referring to the fact that Italy is one of these: I shall ensure that the European Commission presents a report on the functioning of the European mandate by the end of the year (but pointed out at the same time that in virtue of the current treaty, the Commission is not able to bring infringement proceedings against a defaulting Member State).
In his general responses, Mr Buttiglione stressed that he had been "one of the dominant voices in the Italian debate on immigration issues". Rocco Buttiglione's voice has indeed been much heard, especially since he was appointed successor to Antonio Vitorino, and his ideas on opening camps in third countries for those seeking asylum in the EU have caused highly vocal reactions (see Europe of 2 October, p.7, on the discussions of the interior ministers of the EU meeting informally in Scheveningen). In his written answers, Mr Buttiglione attempts to explain: recent incidents have shown that "dramatic conditions pushing people to coming and look for work and/or protection in the EU are a constant reality", and the Union must "seek a viable alternative to their clandestine and dangerous actions". It is clear that "this cannot be done without close cooperation between the countries of origin and of transit", he acknowledged, adding that Italy's and Germany's ideas on this subject "make a valuable contribution to the debate underway within the Union". "These proposals call first of all for the creation of a common European asylum regime", and our first objective must be to respond to humanitarian needs and stop the Mediterranean from becoming a "graveyard". Other conditions: the "complete and universal application of the Geneva Convention of 1951", and a "genuine mechanism to share obligations between the Member States and with the host third countries", rather than "placing all the obligations on the latter". The most important thing, insists Mr Buttiglione, "any new approach should add to, rather than replace, the common European asylum regime and the legal right of persons to request asylum individually and spontaneously in the Member States". To those MEPs who pointed out in their questions that the European Parliament had rejected the Italian initiative on joint flights to return illegal asylum seekers, Mr Buttiglione said that he will propose that the Commission presents a draft directive early in 2005 on common rules for returns. He feels that "a financial mechanism for solidarity aiming to support a policy of returning people (…) ensures the credibility of our policy on legal immigration".
In their written questions, the MEPs asked Rocco Buttiglione about another sensitive issue for Italy (and which was also raised in Viviane Reding's hearing: see Europe of 1 October, p.8): is the future Commission in favour of European legislation on the pluralism of the media, in order to avoid all conflicts of interest? Whilst stressing that the media are no part of his portfolio, Mr Buttiglione said: "as a member of the College, I will encourage the examination of possible measures to prevent all conflict of interest", but "within the limits of the Commission's competency", he added, raising the problem of the legal basis for any initiative in this field, which has always been raised by the Commission when it has been asked about this by MEPs in the past.