WRITTEN QUESTION E-0137/02 by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Package of Community proposals for the common European immigration policy.
Date: 2002-02-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU migration policy, approximation of laws, immigration, migration control, proposal (EU), refugee, right of asylum

C 172 E/152

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.7.2002

(2002/C 172 E/159)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0137/02

by Jorge Hernández Mollar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Package of Community proposals for the common European immigration policy

It should become clear during the first half of the current year that the main foreign policy objective is to
harmonise the different laws on asylum and refugees of the fifteen Member States.

This is a complex task which should provide the foundation for the launch of the future common
European immigration policy, which the Member States agreed on at the Laeken (Belgium) summit in
December.

Will the Commission say what initiatives it plans to achieve the harmonisation of the different laws of the
Fifteen on asylum and refugees as a basis for a European frontiers policy which will pave the way for a
future common policy to control immigration?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(21 February 2002)

The Commission welcomes the conclusions adopted by the Laeken European Council (14-15 December
2001) and in particular, its endorsement of the political guidelines and objectives set out at Tampere. It
also supports the fresh impetus and drive in the areas of immigration and asylum in order to catch up on
the targets set in its scoreboard for the review of progress made towards the establishment of an area of
freedom, security and justice in the European Union. The Commission places high hopes in the Spanish
Presidency to infuse the process with a new dynamism and achieve further results during the first half of
2002.

The Commission would recall that the main proposals necessary for the implementation of Article 63 of
the EC Treaty and the Tampere conclusions had already been presented within the deadlines set. First and
foremost therefore, it is for the Council, as the Heads of State or Government did in fact request, to speed
up work. Here, at the wishes of the European Council, special attention should be paid to the proposals for
directives on minimum standards governing the reception of asylum seekers and the conditions to be met
by third country nationals and stateless persons in order to enable them to claim refugee status or the
status of persons who, for other reasons, require international protection linked to that status. Parliament’s
initiative to increase the appropriations allocated to the European Refugee Fund by € 10 million will
certainly help to meet the European Council’s request for account to be taken of the need to provide aid
for asylum seekers.

Nonetheless, the Commission will continue to encourage the completion of this work. It is pleased that, on
the basis of its November 2001 communication on a common policy on illegal immigrants, the Council
speedily adopted an action plan in this area. As promised, the Commission intends to take action as soon
as possible and publish the appropriate measures in a Green Paper on which wide-ranging consultations
will take place and in a forthcoming communication it will propose a common strategy on external border
controls.

Moreover, as it has been asked, the Commission intends, before the end of April 2002, to present
amended proposals relating to asylum procedures and family reunification in the hope of making it easier
to compromise on particularly sensitive issues. It attaches great importance to the speedy conclusion of the
work on its proposal for a regulation to replace the Dublin Convention, a recurring priority of the
European Council. The Commission will also take steps to ensure that the European system based on the
comparison of fingerprints of asylum seekers (Eurodac) will enter into operation as soon as possible in the
hope that the Member States will adopt all the necessary provisions without delay.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Moreover, the Commission approves the willingness expressed at Laeken to integrate policy on migratory
flows more fully into the Union’s external policy. It is in favour of any endeavour to reshape the work of
the High Level Group on Immigration and Asylum set up by the Council in 1999 whose mandate would
certainly benefit from being reviewed and up-dated. Before the end of the year, the Commission intends to
present to the Council and Parliament a proposal for a programme involving cooperation with third
countries based on the experience gained from the implementation of the new budgetary instrument
established at Parliament’s initiative. The Commission is also concerned that a genuine common policy on
readmission be introduced. It will step up its efforts to negotiate the agreements which it has already been
authorised to conclude and it will draft the necessary proposals to broaden this approach in a consistent
manner.

Following its communications advocating the introduction of methods to ensure open cooperation in the
areas of immigration and asylum, the Commission will shortly take the initiative to establish a European
system for the exchange of information on asylum, migration and countries of origin requested by the
European Council. This will include a proposal for a new statistical action plan called for by the Council in
May 2001 as well as the gradual development of a virtual migration monitoring centre and the resumption
of the activities of the Centre for information and exchange on asylum (CIREA) which the Permanent
Representatives Committee recently decided to abolish. In addition, the Commission will look into the
possibility of supplementing the instruments already adopted as part of the fight against discrimination and
racism with specific new measures on the integration of migrants

(2002/C 172 E/160)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0140/02

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 February 2002)

Subject: Commission’s position on the Galileo satellite localisation project

Since its inception, the Galileo project, which is vital for navigation and the development of third
generation UMTS, has encountered serious problems within and outside the EU which may jeopardise its
future.

The recent European Council
in Laeken instructed the Council of Transport Ministers to take a final
decision by March 2002 on funding the development phase of the project, which will require EUR 1 100
million.

Will the Commission say what financial commitment is needed by the Union and the Member States to
importance in
develop this important European satellite localisation project, which may be of vital
ensuring Europe’s independence in the sector covered by Galileo and in the development of a vital
navigation network and third generation UMTS?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 March 2002)

The total cost of the Galileo satellite positioning programme is estimated at between EUR 3,2 and EUR 3,4
billion. It comprises three phases.

The development and validation phase will last from 2001 to 2005. It will include both developing the
satellites and the ground components, and validating the system ‘in orbit’. It will cost EUR 1,1 billion,
shared equally between the EU and the European Space Agency. Budget provisions have already been
made in the current Community financial perspective for the EU’s contribution of EUR 550 million
provided from the trans-European networks appropriations. For its part, the European Space Agency
decided to approve its contribution of EUR 550 million at its meeting in Edinburgh on 15 November
2001.

The deployment phase (2006-2007) will include the construction and launch of the satellites, and the
installation of the complete ground segment. Total costs are estimated at between EUR 2 and EUR 2,1
billion, including both private and public sector contributions. To finance this phase, the Commission will
to make the necessary
future financial perspectives
make appropriate proposals under

in order