Brussels, 08/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 May, the European Commission is due to launch an initiative aimed at harmonising criminal penalties against employers who hire illegal immigrants in the European Union. “The prospect of illegal work pulls many towards the EU. A directive to harmonise sanctions against employers offering work to illegally residing third-country nationals will be put forward soon”, said Immigration Commissioner Franco Frattini during a speech pronounced in Vienna on 3 May. On 16 May, the Commission is also to adopt two communications, one on the overall approach to migration involving the regions neighbouring the EU to the east and south-east, and the other on circular migration and mobility partnerships between the Union and third countries. The first document should be based on a concept that includes the following: - analysis of reasons for departure from homeland, development policy cooperation, humanitarian aid and the fight against poverty, the setting in place of effective systems for border management (with Frontex assistance) and asylum procedures proper to the transit countries, and re-entry. One European source explained: “The Commission hopes to transpose the instruments set in place for the southern countries to the eastern countries by taking the specific nature of the latter into account”. This communication will be mainly intended to combat the fight against illegal immigration from the regions and countries to the east and south-east of the EU, which are the geographic areas from whence most illegal migrants enter the Union. The advantages of legal migration, which is also part of the overall approach defended by the Commission, will be developed further in the second communication, which will set out two main instruments. One will be forward-looking on circular migration and will aim to take into account the fact that migration is now of an increasingly transnational kind. The other will concern partnerships for mobility. “It is the idea of defining a political framework with a third country that wants to commit itself to a common agenda with a view to technical cooperation, for example by creating a centre inspired by the Bamako pilot project”, one source said. Ministers will then be called upon to enact this kind of framework agreement as swiftly as possible so that it may be rapidly implemented. (bc)