Brussels, 22/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - In its adoption, at Monday's "General Affairs/External Relations" Council, of conclusions on migration and external relations, the foreign affairs ministers of the EU called upon the Commission to take concrete measures to improve the impact of migratory phenomena on development, and regularly to report back on progress made. The ministers pledged their support to the approach proposed by the European Commission in its communication of 1 September, presenting concrete orientations based on South/North migration, with a view to improving the impact of migration on development (EUROPE 9018). Speaking to the press, Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner stressed that the EU must take a "global and common approach" to external relations, in order to respond to problems caused by immigration. She said that she was in favour of holding a conference on the issue of immigration from sub-Saharan Africa, to bring together the Member States of the EU, and representatives of the countries of origin and transit countries, in 2006 (EUROPE 9071). Ms Ferrero-Waldner also stressed the need to tackle the causes of immigration from these countries to more developed regions. "We must work with them more, in order to give their citizens, particularly young people, the possibility of staying in their country and having a future there", she said.
The ministers also reaffirmed the importance of the EU developing its initiatives on problems related to international migration, working in partnership with the third countries. They called upon the Commission to continue to fight against illegal immigration and to proceed with an assessment of third countries in this field. Emphasis was also laid on dialogue and cooperation between the European Union, the countries of origin and the transit countries. The Council pointed out that this kind of cooperation could focus on management measures for migratory channels and cancel out the negative impact of the "brain drain", step up refugee protection and plan sustainable solutions for them (regional protection programmes), fight trafficking in human beings and ensure that all illegal immigrants are returned to their countries.