WRITTEN QUESTION E-0635/02

by Giuseppe Pisicchio (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(8 March 2002)

Subject: Benefits for frontier regions

The general public is now fully aware of the major difficulties affecting certain coastal regions of Europe (particularly in southern Italy) on account of the constant arrivals of illegal immigrants by boat.

This has many implications. The human aspect is certainly the most important, although social and economic ones are significant too, on account of the highly detrimental effect which they have on the inhabitants of coastal regions (who are called upon to display additional solidarity which they do willingly) and on local economies, which are required to make an extraordinary effort on Europe's behalf.

Coastal regions in southern Italy and southern Europe are quite unable to escape the role assigned to them by geography as the EU's first outpost.

In view of these facts, does the Commission not think that it should declare Apulia, Calabria, Sicily and the other affected regions of Europe to be frontier regions and grant them the benefits associated with such a status which will help relieve those regions' current difficulties, since their voluntary workers, economies, welfare services and reception centres are at the moment under an impossible burden?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(26 April 2002)

The fight against illegal immigration is one of the key elements of the Union's comprehensive common policy on asylum and immigration.

As the Honourable Member has stated, there are some border regions in Europe that are particularly affected by illegal immigration because of their geographical location. The differing impact on the regions is yet a further argument for the adoption, in a spirit of cooperation between all the Member States, of a genuine common policy to combat this phenomenon, but without undermining compliance with international obligations or respect for human rights.

To that end, the Commission Communication to the Council and Parliament on a common policy on illegal immigration(1) proposed a raft of measures based on mutual trust between the Member States. The Commission welcomes the quick adoption by the Council of an action plan in this area on the basis of the communication.

The Commission intends to follow this up as soon as possible with appropriate initiatives on visa policy and repatriation policy in the form of a Green Paper, on which there will be wide-ranging consultations, as well as checks at external borders for which it will propose a common strategy in a forthcoming communication. The aim of all these measures is to significantly reduce illegal immigration in Europe.

Measures are planned under the Interreg III cross-border cooperation programmes involving Italy's external borders, in particular the Italy/Albania and Italy/Slovenia programmes to regulate and control illegal migratory flows and to enhance the structures where immigrants are first received as well as the social integration schemes for workers and women who wish to get out of illegal networks or escape exploitation. The Commission would remind the Honourable Member that it is for the Italian regional authorities, which are responsible for managing and monitoring the programmes cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund, both to select and implement the projects to be cofinanced.

(1) COM(2001) 672 final.