WRITTEN QUESTION E-1469/00

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 May 2000)

Subject: Immigration policy

Illegal immigration to Europe is increasingly taking the form of slave-trafficking, devaluing human dignity and often costing lives.

Does the European Union bear any responsibility for this? As an area which receives immigrants, should the European Union not develop a common immigration policy establishing clear and mutually acceptable relations with the immigrants' countries of origin, which will combat illegality and trafficking in human beings, as well as illegal employment in the European Union? Will the countries applying for membership participate in the process of drawing up and implementing these policies?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2000)

Since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty on 1 May 1999, the Community enjoys explicit powers in the field of immigration policy (Title IV of the EC Treaty, articles 61 et seq.). Article 63 of the EC Treaty stipulates that the Council shall adopt within five years measures relative to immigration policy which will concern, inter alia, the field of illegal immigration (Article 63(3) lit. b of the EC Treaty).

On 3 December 1998, the Justice and Home Affairs Council adopted an action plan to implement the new provisions of Title IV of the EC Treaty(1) which was later endorsed by the Vienna European Council. In this action plan, combatting illegal immigration has been identified as one of the priority measures in the field of immigration policy.

The special European Council meeting, held in Tampere (Finland) on 15 and 16 October 1999, adopted far-reaching conclusions on the way in which the future Union immigration and asylum policy should be shaped. It underlined the need to develop a comprehensive approach to migration addressing political, human rights and development issues in countries and regions of origin and transit. In this connection, reference was made to the action plans prepared by the high level working group on migration and asylum which target the situation in a number of third countries and could be considered a first step in the development of such a policy. The European Council also expressed support for the management of migration flows at all their stages and called for the development, in close co-operation with countries of origin and transit, of information campaigns on the actual possibilities for legal migration, and for the prevention of all forms of smuggling and trafficking in human beings. To this end, it invited the Council and Member States to tackle at its source illegal immigration, especially by combating those who engage in trafficking of human beings and economic exploitation of migrants, to adopt legislation to this end, foreseeing severe sanctions against this serious crime, to direct, together with Europol, the efforts to detecting and dismantling the organised criminal networks involved, to secure the rights of the victims of trafficking in persons with special emphasis on women and children, to assist the countries of origin and of transit in order to help the authorities of those countries to strengthen their ability to combat effectively trafficking in human beings and to cope with their readmission obligations towards the Union and the Member States, and to promote closer co-operation and mutual technical assistance between the Member States' border control services, such as exchange programmes and technology transfers, especially on maritime borders, and for the rapid inclusion of the applicant States in this co-operation.

The Commission is already working on the proposals and actions needed to give full satisfaction to the mentioned objectives of Tampere conclusions, as foreseen in the scoreboard to review progress on the creation of an area of Freedom, security and justice, as communicated to the Council and Parliament(2). As a consequence of the tragic events in Dover, the Community institutions and the Member States should commit themselves to ensure that all the relevant actions foreseen in the scoreboard are taken and the measures put in place within the deadlines fixed. The Commission services are also considering the possibility of taking new initiatives in order to prevent that similar events happen again.

The Tampere European Council also stressed that, as a consequence of the integration of the Schengen acquis into the Union, the candidate countries must accept in full that acquis and further measures building upon it when acceding to the Union.

(1) OJ C 19, 23.1.1999.

(2) COM(2000) 167 final.