Mr President, Commissioner, the oral question tabled by Mrs Terrón i Cusí shows that this House is taking a firm stance. Indeed, six months after the election of this new Parliament, we should now be able to send a firm political message to the people of Europe. I believe that the Portuguese Presidency can contribute positively to this. We are all aware of the enormous expectations of our people with regard to freedom, security and justice, particularly social justice. Yet their lack of interest and involvement and sometimes even their distaste for all things political requires us to take specific action to tackle their problems. This is the sine qua non condition for reconciling the popular and political spheres. For Europe to become the symbol of peace and fraternity, we need a bold and generous policy to come to the aid of the most disadvantaged. A proper plan for fighting unemployment must be established for this is the scourge which is allowing the rise of racism, xenophobia, nationalism and extreme-right racist movements. We should remember that the most disadvantaged include immigrants and refugees. The virtually systematic conditions of detention and the criminalisation of asylum-seekers are no longer acceptable. All asylum-seekers must be entitled to a fair hearing and an appeal with suspensory effect. Last week, and somewhat by chance, I witnessed, at Roissy airport, a scene of rare violence in which two young women, admittedly illegal immigrants, were being returned to Conakry. They were treated like the worst criminals. They were stripped naked and dragged along the floor by their hair, surrounded by a horde of state security police. The Portuguese Presidency must put an end to this type of barbaric behaviour. Our role should be to accompany, reassure and assist those who are fleeing dictatorships. The Commission has proposed creating a European fund for refugees to which Parliament was favourably disposed. Instead of all this waffling about the budget granted to this fund, we could take the decision to set this up. The Presidency and the Council can realise what was incomprehensibly rejected in Tampere, even though this summit provided an important basis. Likewise, we cannot simply record the rise in xenophobic feelings in Europe and the increasingly common discrimination without taking wide-ranging action. The laws against racism must be harmonised. What direction do you intend to give to Article 13 of the EC Treaty? What do you intend to do to promote equal treatment in wages for men and women? How do you aim to eradicate homophobia, racism and sexism? We must take the best from each of our countries. When six European countries have granted the right to vote, the President of this House can venture to extend this right to vote, and eligibility to participate in the municipal and European elections, to all people from outside the Community who have lived in Europe for more than five years. The regularisation of illegal immigrants in certain countries, including your own, must act as an example to others. These illegal immigrants nowadays constitute a plethora of vulnerable people at the mercy of slum landlords, an oppressed workforce subject to economic exploitation, rendering them modern-day slaves. In more general terms, this Presidency must start to change the behaviour and interaction of our people with minority groups and immigrants. Immigration is too often a synonym for insecurity and violence and purely repressive responses. How do you intend to make our people understand that, today like always, immigration is a source of social and cultural wealth with a role which is, and will remain, essential in the context of population? What action do you intend to take to enhance the place of immigrants in our society and to guarantee proper protection for asylum-seekers?

Political group: GUE-NGL