WRITTEN QUESTION E-2529/02

by Camilo Nogueira Román (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(11 September 2002)

Subject: A further tragedy marked by the death of thirteen immigrants in the Straits of Gibraltar

On 1 August the bodies of thirteen African immigrants, men and women from the Kingdom of Morocco, were washed up at Tarifa, on the coast of the Straits of Gibraltar, in Spanish and European Union territory, in a repetition of the kind of tragedy which has already claimed the lives of thousands of people over the last few years. What steps is the Council taking vis-à-vis Spain and the Kingdom of Morocco to try to create the conditions needed to ensure that such appalling events do not happen again?

Reply

(19 December 2002)

1. The Council shares the view of the Honourable Member regarding the need to adopt measures to prevent any future recurrence of tragic events such as the one he mentions. It should be pointed out that the problem of illegal immigration and more effective and appropriate means to prevent it has been included by recent Presidencies among the priority issues confronting the Union.

2. The fight against illegal immigration was given great prominence in the conclusions of the Seville European Council held on 21 and 22 June 2002. These conclusions outlined the courses of action to be taken to ensure that effective measures were taken at Union level to prevent and limit the problem.

Attention should also be drawn to the fact that substantial impetus was given to this question by the Spanish Presidency, even before the Seville European Council, in particular through the adoption of two programmatic instruments which not only identified a number of measures to be carried out but also defined the framework within which future action should occur and expand. These instruments are the Action Plan to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings in the European Union (adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 28 February 2002) and the Action Plan for the management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union (adopted by the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 13 June 2002).

3. In addition, with regard to the fight against illegal immigration by sea, following the adoption of the Action Plan to combat illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings in the European Union, the Council also tackled this more specific question and adopted relevant conclusions at its meeting on 25 and 26 April 2002. In response to the invitation contained in the conclusions, the Commission is in the process of examining, at technical meetings with representatives of the Member States, what measures would be most appropriate and effective for consideration and implementation in this field at Union level.

4. In the light of the Seville conclusions, the new Danish Presidency has given priority in its work programme to the issue of combating illegal immigration, so as to be able to adopt and implement the actions and measures on which the conclusions laid emphasis.

5. Finally, with regard more specifically to the case of Morocco, it should be noted that, on the basis of the mandate granted to it by the Council in 2000, the Commission submitted to the Moroccan authorities that same year a draft readmission agreement. After a series of informal contacts between the Commission and the Moroccan authorities, formal negotiations should begin in the next few months.