WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1055/97 by Jesús CABEZÓN ALONSO to the Commission. Common immigration policy
Date: 1997-03-19
Institutions: CABEZON ALONSO, European Parliament
Subjects: competence of the Member States, foreign national, illegal migration, immigration, international human rights law, migration policy, residence permit, right of asylum, trafficking in human beings













EUR-Lex - 91997E1055 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91997E1055

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1055/97 by Jesús CABEZÓN ALONSO to the Commission. Common immigration policy  


Official Journal C 373 , 09/12/1997 P. 0055 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1055/97 by Jesús Cabezón Alonso (PSE) to the Commission (19 March 1997)Subject: Common immigration policyIn view of the measures adopted by certain Member States (essentially, policing measures or ones which restrict individual rights as regards immigration control), does the Commission not believe there to be a need for a common immigration policy as a guarantee that all the Member States will introduce essentially civilian procedures for regulating third-country immigration? What progress has been made in this area?Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission (15 May 1997)The appropriate framework for asylum is the Geneva Convention ((Convention of 28 July 1951 relating to the Status of Refugees. )). As for immigration at present each Member State has its own rules. The Commission for its part reaffirms the guidelines set out in its February 1994 communication on immigration and asylum ((Commission communication of 23 February 1994 to the Council and Parliament on immigration and asylum policies: COM (94) 23 final. )) where it stressed the need for an overall and balanced approach to the matter of immigration. This approach must be based on an efficient control of migration flows, be consonant with the Union's objectives and be multi-faceted involving:- action on the root causes of migration through a development policy formulated accordingly;- a clear policy on the rules of admission into the Union for nationals of non-member countries who wish to reside there in order to work, to study or to live as a family;- residence rules for nationals of non-member countries residing legally in the Union, in particular those established in a Member State on a long-term basis;- an effective campaign against illegal immigration and trafficking in human beings.Following entry into force of the Treaty on European Union, the Council has continued action on this front and adopted a number of texts relating to the admission of nationals from non-member countries and more than fifteen texts on the expulsion of illegal migrants ((Most of these texts were published in OJ C 274, 19.9.1996. )).While acknowledging the importance of the fight against illegal immigration, the Commission has, on a number of occasions, emphasized its concern at the imbalance between the scale of action on expulsions and the absence of a clear policy on rules for admission. It has stressed, in particular, that the instruments adopted by the Council in this area (resolutions, conclusions, recommendations) provide little in the way of legal certainty. For this reason, the Commission has stated on numerous occasions that it was preparing a draft text on this general approach to admisssion which would make the legal situation clearer.