Mr President, firstly, I would like to express my thanks to the political groups in this House who have supported the report of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, and who have enriched it through their participation in the intense debates which we have held. Furthermore, I also wish to recognise the positive and cooperative attitude of the Commission to whom, Commissioner, I would like to express my personal thanks. The action plans for the six countries selected by the High Level Working Group on asylum and migration represent, and this seems to me to be important, the first external action of the European Union in the field of immigration and asylum, and as Commissioner Vitorino correctly said in Strasbourg, they are priority objectives for the Member States and I hope they continue to be so. My report, Mr President, on the one hand reflects the critical feeling of all the groups with regard to aspects of form and substance in the presentation and preparation of the plans. We have not been able to examine each one of them individually and we have had to limit ourselves to very general considerations and, on this basis, make proposals which I hope will be taken into account by the Commission and the Council for these and for future action plans. Mr President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, the very fact that these action plans are to be implemented is positive in itself. It is also positive that we have combined action plans in the fields of foreign policy, cooperation and development and in adopting measures to regulate migratory flows. However, what has not been positive is the way that the Council has presented these plans to Parliament, which has remained silent on the way in which they have been selected and drafted. Our basic concern relates to the possible effectiveness of the actions planned for countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia or Iraq, where political instability is combined with constant violations of the most basic human rights. Quite different is the case of Morocco, or even Albania or Sri Lanka, where there is a greater likelihood of multi-sectoral cooperation, and there are countries with privileged situations such as Morocco, where we have just implemented an association agreement. In addition to the fact that it is impossible to comply with the time limit laid down for the majority of actions, there is also a lack of budgetary contribution for some of the measures envisaged, as more than 50% of them have no financial resources. That is why one of our proposals is to create a budget line for 2001 to cover these needs. I would also like to draw your attention to the imbalance between the measures to control migratory flows and those which promote genuine cooperation in the development of the countries selected, including measures for integration. We cannot criminalise immigration, whether it is for economic or political reasons. It should be understood that it is crucial to implement the provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam and the Tampere Summit on the ‘communitisation’ of asylum policy and the fair and humanitarian treatment of refugees and immigrants. We should put emphasis on the humanitarian conditions in reception centres and also take advantage of the experience of some countries with regard to regional approximation. As well as economic immigration and cooperation with countries of origin, we should deal with the question of labour market legislation in the Member States themselves, the social integration of immigrants and the fight against the mafia-types involved in the trafficking in human beings. The problem cannot be resolved solely by means of readmission and border control agreements, although they are necessary. In terms of the action plans, these measures seem to be given priority over the ones I have just mentioned I also consider it necessary to create an immigration monitoring centre because, in addition to coordinating statistical data, this would allow sociological studies to be carried out on the phenomenon of migration, which would help in the decision-making process. With regard to respect for human rights, there must be greater cooperation in order to modernise the administrative structures of some of the selected countries. We must also cooperate in the training of police forces and, in particular, open them up to cooperation with the NGOs, which have a social role to play in this area. Finally, Mr President, I hope that, with regard to these plans and the plans to come, the defects highlighted in this resolution will be corrected and that there will be closer cooperation, especially on the part of the High Level Working Group and the Council, with Parliament. I also hope, of course, that the Commission will be given the resources to carry them out. The success or failure of the European Union’s first external action in an area as sensitive for European society as immigration and asylum, depends on the success of these plans. IN THE CHAIR: MR WIEBENGAVice-President

Political group: PPE-DE