Brussels, 15/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - Unlike at their previous meetings, EU heads of state and government announced concrete measures on immigration from 2007. However, they did not manage to overcome their difficulties in the decision-making process in the area of police and criminal legal cooperation.
The European Council acknowledged that, within the framework of existing decision-making procedures, it was “difficult” to respond to citizens' expectations in the areas of cross-border crime, terrorism and immigration. However, the Council made no progress on improving the decision-making process, which involved the debate around the bridging clause (Article 42 of the Treaty). “We still don't have an agreement,” said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said there was “deadlock”, and he strongly regretted that the EU could not use the bridging clause. This was “the typical example of the need to change decision-making rules in the EU,” he went on. He said Germany was one of the countries which supported the right of veto. The fate of this clause, which was not even mentioned in the conclusions, is felt by several States to be inextricably linked to the Constitutional Treaty. The issue will be taken into account after the relaunch of the reform process, probably towards the end of the German Presidency. In the meantime, the twenty five Member States called on the EU Council in office to “press on”, using what had already been obtained. It has to be said that, at his particular moment, there appears to be little realistic hope of finding a way to break the deadlock. The meeting demonstrated the Finnish Presidency's inability to advance the matter, which was one of its priorities, with the other EU States (see EUROPE 9271 and 9320). On Thursday evening, several Member States, led by the United Kingdom, confirmed their reservations about taking this matter forward. Given the British insistence, heads of state and government stressed rather the “concrete progress” made by “intensifying” operational cooperation between the relevant authorities in the Member States. The European Council for the moment has had to fall back on recognised principles in the process of reform in the EU, because these were the most balanced basis for future work in freedom, security and justice. In its final conclusions, the Council did not wish, however, to refer to the Constitutional Treaty as a way of making future improvements in the decision-making process in JHA (that is, qualified majority voting in the Council, co-decision with the Parliament and increased power for the Court of Justice). Such a reference was contained in the Finnish Presidency's draft conclusions, several Member States which support the bridging clause, including France and the Netherlands, did not wish to link it to the Constitutional Treaty.
On immigration, Member States set out a series of good intentions on four major themes: relations with third countries of origin and transit, legal, and illegal immigration, and management of EU external borders involving strengthening of the European border agency (Frontex). “We have an agreement on migration policy,” said Finish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen happily at the final press conference. He said that , thanks to this agreement, “priority measures” could be taken in 2007, following the “very fine proposals” prepared by the Commission in this area. At the dinner on Thursday evening, Member States even agreed on making immigration a “key subject” for the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon in the second half of 2007, said Mr Vanhanen. In their conclusions, which devote 8 out of 20 pages to these issues, heads of state and government undertook to reinforce and deepen international cooperation and dialogue with third countries of origin and transit in a comprehensive and balanced manner. The partnership should be built particularly on commitments taken jointly at ministerial conferences held in Rabat and Tripoli in 2006, and on the on-going work within the framework of the EU-Africa dialogue on migration and development. Member States and the Commission were also invited to include immigration and development issues in aid programmes and policies for African countries. On this, leaders agreed that the initiative presented by the Commission at the end of November was a way of dealing with this issue in the short- and medium-term (see EUROPE 9318). Member States also reached agreement on enhancing cooperation between Member States in combating illegal immigration, taking account of the Commission proposals in this area. These are mainly proposals the Commission will bring forward before April 2007 to combat illegal employment and by the end of 2007 on bringing an automated entry and exit system at the EU's external borders into widespread use. The expression of “EU solidarity” with the countries of the south of Europe was what came out of this Summit, said French President Jacques Chirac, stressing too “combating poverty” to defeat the problems related to illegal immigration.
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In the field of legal immigration, the European Council encouraged Commission initiatives presented end November (EUROPE 9318). This is the first time such a thing has happened as, in the past, Member States have always been reticent about increasing the scope of Community competence. The European Council therefore counts on the German Presidency for supervising work in the future. Between now and June 2007, the Commission will make concrete proposals aimed at a better organisation and at information on the different forms of legal movements between the EU and third countries - for example, with the creation of “migration centres” in emigration countries, where the needs of EU Member State labour markets can be looked at in relation to the profiles of would-be emigrants. The Council conclusions nonetheless stress the fact that these proposals should fully respect national competences. Finally, EU leaders agreed on strengthening the capacity of Frontex in the near future, and Frontex itself will be invited to set in place, as a matter of urgency, a database of logistical means available to the agency. It is also requested that a permanent network of coastal patrols along the southern maritime border be established as soon as possible. “Frontex must be strengthened and made more operational”, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. The Twenty-Five, however, were careful not to put any figures on these efforts. The Council calls for the European asylum regime to be implemented by end 2010 but the question seems difficult to resolve in so far as the countries of origin are reticent to sign the readmission agreements that the Union hopes to negotiate. This problem is also linked to the difficulties encountered by these countries in effective identification of illegal migrants that naturally hope to avoid expulsion. A financial effort, through development policy, has been announced to accompany measures in the future (EUROPE 9324) Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, who on many occasions had raised the difficulties confronting his country, was pleased with the result saying even that Spain has had everything it wanted, including financial means.
The European Council finally endorsed the conclusions reached by the JHA Council early December (EUROPE 9321). It welcomed the prospect of lifting controls at internal borders from 2007 on and by March 2008 at the very latest, nonetheless making the lifting of controls subject to certain security conditions as well as to the effective setting up of the Schengen Information System. (bc)