A tricky balance. The agreement on the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, announced in our bulletin 9748, did not, I feel, get the recognition that the importance of the event really warranted. It is true that its formal and official approval is a matter for the heads of state and government, who will announce it on 15 October when they meet for their forthcoming summit; but the consensus gathered at last week's Council was the essential moment for an initiative which will influence the behaviour of Europe and the Europeans in a particularly sensitive and tricky area. I wonder whether the moderate level (in terms both of volume and content) of the reactions observed is not down to the fact that the final text is not entirely satisfactory, either to those in favour of a radical opening-up of Europe's borders to immigrants, or to those who would prefer to see a rigorous restrictive policy. If either of these extreme positions had won the day, there would have been plenty of headlines and spectacular declarations. Wisdom and fair balance, however, won out; so much the better.
At the start of the project, the priority objective for the French Presidency was to put an end to the mass regularisations of illegal immigrants in any given member state, the effects of which could be to cause an uncontrollable influx of other refugees causing problems in all of the member states as a whole. Then, negotiations between the 27 led to a balancing-out of objectives. The number-one objective is no longer the fight against illegal immigration, but the organisation of legal immigration. The objective of reinforcing the effectiveness of border controls has been kept in place, but it now stands alongside the goal of building a common asylum regime. Added to this come partnerships with the countries of origin and of transit, in order to promote synergies between migration and development. Immigration is no longer presented as a problem, but as an opportunity, both for the countries of origin and for the host countries, and the asylum policy aims explicitly to protect those that are not protected in their country of origin.
According to Jacques Barrot, the vice-president of the Commission, who played an essential part in the negotiations, the pact will avoid both Fortress Europe and Porous Europe, by aiming to make the EU a model of concerted management of migratory flows by dint of double and parallel action: effectively fighting illegal immigration whilst promoting the integration of legal immigrants and, the same time, giving Europe a uniform asylum rights regime. See the above-mentioned bulletin 9748 for a summary of the pact.
The agreement reached calls for two essential comments:
1. Application measures. The pact represents a starting point, which must be the subject of a great many application measures, which will be difficult and delicate to define in many cases. Let's think, for example, of the details to be applied to family regrouping (they are already subject to problems and differences of opinion, given the inherent risks of abuse) and of the content of the common asylum policy, which must lay down reception conditions (including guarantees for children and women) and the balance between the member states for the processing of applications, in order to avoid the vast majority ending up in the less strict countries, to say nothing of the risks of a geographical imbalance (Malta, Italy). On top of this comes the question of a "blue card" for selected immigrants.
A great many preparatory documents had been drawn up by the Commission before the agreement came in between the member states on the pact itself, and some of them have already been debated in the Parliament and other bodies. The work yet to be done remains colossal; the sense of fair play, wisdom and capacity for conciliation of Vice-President Barrot will be tested to the limit.
2. Inevitable criticism and dissatisfaction. The pact will never be able to satisfy all the requirements of the anti-immigration movements on the one hand, and the humanitarian and human rights organisations on the other. These latter are worthy and indispensable, because they ceaselessly remind the political authorities of their responsibilities and speak out against any shortfalls and abuses. But we must also take account of the natural limits on what is possible and justified. Additionally, the pact will inevitably raise the problem of the right of Europe and its member states to get involved in the internal affairs of other countries and other continents.
This column will return to the individual aspects and to others which are just as sensitive, with the near-certainty of coming in for flak afterwards from all sides, because whenever you raise issues such as expelling illegal immigrants, biometric identification of illegal immigrants, their role in drugs trafficking or their exploitation by employers, passionate and irrational factors come into play.
(F.R./trans.fl)