Strasbourg, 29/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - Adopting a common policy on immigration on Thursday by a slender majority, the EP called for a broad, coherent and balanced approach. Following the EPP-ED's rejection of one text, the European Parliament approved a common resolution presented by the PES, ALDE, Greens/EFA and GUE-NGL by 295 to 271 with 14 abstentions. The final vote confirmed the differences in approach and analysis that had come to light during the debate the day before (see EUROPE No. 9274).
French Socialist Martine Roure said the text sent a very clear signal to the Council about the need to establish a genuine common immigration policy, but French EPP-ED MEP Margie Sudre said that it did not contain any new lines of thought likely to inspire EU governments in their search for solutions. She said that the EP's vote had been a missed opportunity to influence the Council's future decisions. In a press release, Roure said that nobody could be indifferent about the arrival of immigrants and asylum seekers en masse, which is why she wants to see an increase in European solidarity and for the EU to share the burdens and the responsibilities for its immigration policy. Her views are shared by Simon Busuttil and David Casa, the two Maltese MEPs in the EPP-ED group who voted in favour of the resolution, which they describe as containing interesting elements like the call for the 'Dublin II' rules to be revised.
The resolution calls on the Commission to take initiatives as soon as possible to revise Regulation 343/2003, known as the Dublin II Regulation', by questioning the very basis of the regulation, namely that the Member State responsible for examining an asylum request should be the first Member State where the asylum seeker arrives, since this puts an intolerable burden on countries in the South and East of the EU, and by establishing a fair mechanism for sharing responsibilities among Member States. In their text, the MEPs regret that seven years after the Tampere European Council and despite repeated requests from the European Parliament, rather than defining a common immigration policy, the Council had kept unanimous voting and the consultation procedure for all issues connected with legal immigration.
An overall approach cannot fail to look at the incentives that lead some people to leave their country, add the MEPs, stressing the need to provide legal immigration opportunities for people wanting to come to the EU. Likewise, a coherent approach has to be accompanied by a policy to integrate immigrants into the labour market, giving the right to education, training, access to healthcare and social services and allowing immigrants to participate in social, cultural and political life. The EP also wants partnerships to be established with countries of origin and transit in order to control migration and illegal immigration, and calls on the Commission to create an emergency fund as soon as possible to finance the setting up of support teams to provide tangible aid when immigrants arrive at borders. The MEPs call on Member States to step up their cooperation under Frontex and recommend the adoption of a fair EU directive on the return of immigrants.