Mr President, as a former United Kingdom Immigration Minister, I would be the first to recognise that one of the most difficult processes in the immigration system arises when one has to remove a person who has gone through all the legal processes and no longer has a legal right to remain – or has not provided a legal reason to remain – in a Member State and has to be returned to the place from whence they came. This is a difficult decision for everybody involved in the matter. It is difficult for the officials as well as for the ministers themselves. It has to be done in a way that is both humane and effective. Up to now there have been considerable problems in achieving this. The travelling arrangements require that assistance be afforded by moving those particular persons by air and transiting them through other European countries on the way back to where they have to go. A lack of coordination or cooperation has often meant much more suffering for the people concerned. It has also meant that this operation has not always been carried out successfully. Therefore this German initiative – one for which I am very pleased to be the rapporteur – is aimed at trying to bring the matter effectively and efficiently to a conclusion. Our real objective here is for the persons concerned to be afforded the necessary support, if required, in terms of sustenance and medical assistance, when transiting through airports on their way to their destination. We also need to make sure that the airlines carrying them are aware of what they are carrying and the progress of the procedures. That has not always been the case in the past. This report should assist in achieving that end. Similarly it is important that the documents sent with the persons concerned are properly dealt with during the transit process. This is by no means the case at the present time. This is something we also wish to achieve through our work. The difficulty has consistently been that it has always been someone else's responsibility to ensure the proper handling of these matters. Officials have experienced frustration and difficulty over this, not only in Britain but indeed in most EU Member States. I know that this measure would be greeted with considerable support and enthusiasm by those who will see that we are at last beginning to realise that we have to work together to achieve such ends. This does not in any way affect the individual Member States' procedures. Nor is it a measure that tries to be ambitious or reviews the whole issue of asylum procedures as such, or indeed asylum criteria. That would be very ambitious. It is not something that I aim to pursue in this report. The report is a simple and practical measure that will be necessary from time to time once proper legal processes have been exhausted. I have made my position clear. I have tried my best in committee to make sure that all political groups and Members are taken along with me in the work that I have done. I am proud to be the rapporteur of this report because, in my view, it clearly demonstrates that, regardless of differing political views on Europe, its future role and so on, there are many areas like this where we can work together in friendly and effective cooperation, in a way that makes a real practical difference to many people: both those who are dependent on our care and those who have to implement our rules and regulations. For that reason alone, I am very pleased with this report and the reaction to it. I hope that it will be fully supported in the House tomorrow.

Political group: PPE-DE