Brussels, 20/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, announced on Tuesday 19 May that the Commission is to present new proposals on the fight against illegal immigration. "By 10 June, European Commissioner Jacques Barrot and I will have put forward a raft of new proposals, with three objectives: preventing tragedies at sea, safeguarding the principle of freedom of movement and defending the right to asylum", said Mr Barroso in an interview with the Corriere della Sera (our translation). These proposals will be made in the framework of the presentation of the Stockholm Programme (2010-2014) on the development of the "space of liberty, security and justice". The EU hopes to "give a strong response" to the problem of illegal immigration and is also considering "the possibility of creating a Bureau of the EU to examine asylum requests wherever necessary", he explained. "It is unacceptable that traffickers risk the lives of tens of thousands of people. Around the Canary Islands, there have been more deaths than during the Lebanon War, and this cannot be allowed to continue", he said. "We must ensure that these boats do not take to the sea, in order to guarantee control of our coasts, and help countries such as Libya to put into practice the agreements they have signed up to", added Mr Barroso. "The efforts of the European Union are not enough, we also require the collaboration of the governments: alone, the EU does not have enough vessels", the President of the European Commission stressed. "Europe needs immigration, but it must be better managed. We need to seek a balance between two extreme positions, that which focuses entirely on security and wishes to close Europe off (from migrants), and the ultra-liberal approach which says that everybody can come here", concluded José Manuel Barroso. (B.C./transl.fl)