Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Applying the Global Approach to Migration to the European Union's Southern Maritime Borders and to the Eastern and South-Eastern Regions Neighbouring the European Union
Date: 2007-10-11
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: Africa, EU migration policy, external border of the EU, illegal migration, maritime surveillance

15.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 305/43

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Applying the Global Approach to Migration to the
European Union's Southern Maritime Borders and to the Eastern and South-Eastern Regions
Neighbouring the European Union’

(2007/C 305/09)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— considers that European migration policy and the management of the European Union's external
borders respectively, are the responsibility of the European Union and the individual Member States,
which should act together according to the principles of solidarity and mutual trust, founded on full
respect for human rights and European migration policy;

— believes that regional and local authorities are on the front line when it comes to migration policy,
either as regards the problems caused by illegal migration (reception and management of arrivals,
illegal employment, criminality and urban security) or as regards the services that local authorities are
responsible for providing to residents (housing, healthcare, education etc.);

— recommends that immediate action is taken to harmonise laws to put an end to human trafficking

and the criminal organisations that carry it out;

— points out that local and regional authorities have an important role in promoting cooperation and
twinning programmes with their counterparts, and recalls that local and regional authorities bring
know-how and experience to decentralised cooperation. This needs to be included systematically in
the development of European immigration policy;

— calls the Commission to encourage and contribute to the identification of practical solutions to rein-
force the management of the southern maritime external borders and improve the capacity of the
Community, its Member States and its local and regional authorities to deal with critical situations,
such as the mass influx of illegal immigrants;

— encourages at the same time local and regional actors to make use, on a project basis, of the funds

available and stresses that these funds should be made available without further delays;

— recommends to involve local and regional authorities and their national associations particularly more
closely in candidate countries but also in partner countries in EU contributions such as training and
twinning of law enforcement officials, cooperation with Frontex, social protection and training of offi-
cials for labour matters, the rehabilitation of victims of trafficking, the collection of data and the
monitoring of migration flows.

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Reference documents

The Global Approach to Migration one year on: Towards a comprehensive European migration policy

COM(2006)735 final

Reinforcing the management of the European Union's Southern Maritime Borders

COM(2006)733 final

Applying the Global Approach to Migration to the Eastern and South-Eastern Regions Neighbouring the
European Union

COM(2007) 247 final

Rapporteur: Mr Ian MICALLEF (MT/EPP), Councillor, Gzira Local Council

Policy recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

General recommendations

1.
considers that European migration policy and the manage-
ment of the European Union's external borders respectively, are
the responsibility of the European Union and the individual
Member States, which should act together according to the prin-
ciples of solidarity and mutual trust, founded on full respect for
human rights and European migration policy;

2.
supports the efforts of the European Union that since
1999 has taken a series of initiatives towards a comprehensive
European Migration Policy and encourages
the European
Commission to proceed further in this direction, paving the way
also for closer cooperation and coordination between the EU
and third countries; welcomes in particular also the re-confirma-
tion of the common aim of such a policy contained in the
conclusions of the European Council of 21-22 June 2007;

3.
believes that regional and local authorities are on the front
line when it comes to migration policy, either as regards the
problems caused by illegal migration (reception and manage-
ment of arrivals,
illegal employment, criminality and urban
security) or as regards the services that local authorities are
responsible for providing to residents (housing, healthcare,
education, etc.);

4.
emphasises the key role played by local and regional
bodies, owing to the experience they have gained through their
relations with countries of origin and their measures to integrate
migrants, particularly in the fields of healthcare, housing, educa-
tion and employment;

5.
invites the Commission to launch public awareness and
information campaigns with the cooperation of national, local
and regional authorities on legal immigration policies and their

positive impact, notably in order to dispel public anxiety;
in
parallel, calls the Commission to support the countries of origin
in launching campaigns designed to increase public awareness
and knowledge of legal migration possibilities and also to stress
the risks of illegal immigration;

urges the EC to propose mechanisms to ensure that future
6.
regularisations of illegal immigrants takes place in a coordinated
manner as part of a common immigration and asylum system;
welcomes therefore the Commission's proposal to issue a study
in 2007 on the regularisation practices and effects in the
Member States and on their regional and local authorities;

supports the proposal of the Commission which envisages
7.
that when Member States in the region are faced with a critical
situation, such as a mass influx of migrants, the capacity of the
future Coastal Patrol Network should be reinforced;

8.
welcomes the European Parliament's decision to increase
the budget allocated to Frontex substantially and its approval to
the Rapid Border Intervention Teams budget; recommends that
include coordination
the Rapid Border
between Member States and other parties involved,
including
communications with the proposed regional command centres
at the southern maritime borders (1) and those regional adminis-
trations that are highly effected by the influx of migrants;

Intervention Teams

supports the proposal for the establishment of a pool of
9.
experts from Member States administrations that could be made
available for deployment at short notice in other Member States
facing particular strains on their capacities so as to assist in the
prompt initial assessment of individual cases at point of arrival,
including the identification of persons; or who may be returned
to their countries of origin or transit and the subsequent effi-
cient handling of individual cases, including the assessment of
the health conditions of immigrants and refugees as well as any
related epidemiologic situation and to address the specific situa-
tion of unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable groups;

(1) COM(2006) 733, pt. 23.

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recommends that

10.
the pool of experts from Member
States administrations should be based as close as possible to
the needs of
if
local and regional authorities,
requested, representatives of regional or local administrations
from the areas concerned or national or regional associations of
local authorities and the possibility for
regional and local
administrations to ask for the intervention of such experts in
their
immigrants in any
Member State has an immediate effect on the locality or region
in which they arrive;

territory, as the arrival of

including,

illegal

agrees with the proposal of the Council of Justice and
11.
Home Affairs whereby partnership agreements on migration
and development oblige the partner countries to recognise prin-
ciples of democracy and rule of law as well as protection of
human rights;

12.
recommends that immediate action is taken to harmo-
nise laws to put an end to human trafficking and the criminal
organisations that carry it out;

13.
agrees with the request of the Commission to Member
States to increase their efforts, so as to ensure the swift imple-
mentation of
those measures already agreed upon and to
complement EU action with their own initiatives;

14.
stresses that regional and local governments must be
considered as stakeholders and must be involved in all such
dialogue initiatives including with countries of origin and
transit, particularly through the Committee of the Regions;

15.
stresses the importance, and looks forward to actively
participate to future editions, of conferences such as ‘Integrating
cities: European policies, local practices’ organised in 2006 for
the exchange of best practices and strengthening cooperation
between regions, and recommends the EU to exploit the poten-
tial of the regions forming its maritime border as a platform for
developing mutually beneficial relations with third countries;

role

points out that local and regional authorities have an
16.
in promoting cooperation and twinning
important
programmes with their counterparts, and recalls that local and
regional authorities bring know-how and experience to decen-
tralised cooperation through their public health and education
services, urban services,
territorial economic development,
together with the provision of institutional support for local
management, experience in local and regional democracy and
functioning democratic institutions. This needs to be included
systematically in the development of European immigration
policy;

17.
calls the Commission to encourage and contribute to the
identification of practical solutions to reinforce the management
the southern maritime external borders and improve the
of
capacity of the Community, its Member States and its local and
regional authorities to deal with critical situations, such as the
mass influx of illegal immigrants;

stresses

its unanimous

18.
call of 13 February 2007
(CdR 258/2006) (2) for the setting up of an Agency specifically
responsible for tackling the issue of illegal migration and asylum
seeking by third country nationals, which Agency should be
situated in Malta;

calls for a special attention for regions of the European
19.
Union situated in the Mediterranean and Atlantic area experien-
cing a particularly heavy inflow of illegal migrants and suffering
from a lack of means to deal with a large number of immigrants
with due human dignity levels requiring immediate and decisive
action at local, regional, national and European levels, in order
to prevent further tragedy among illegal migrants who die in
large numbers in attempting to reach the shores of the European
Union and the consequences for security and cohesion in the
whole EU;
term policy is
required to deal urgently and effectively with the problems
created by influxes of illegal immigrants and urgently calls for
the creation of a financial
instrument aimed specifically at
regions with the highest immigration levels, and at transit areas
with large inflows of illegal migrants;

therefore underlines that a short

20.
stresses the need for Member States to manifest solidarity
in practice by taking concrete measures to alleviate the pressures
exerted upon frontline States and Regions by continuous waves
of mass influx of migrants, through allowing the relocation and
hosting of such migrants on their territories until such time
when a final decision is taken concerning their status;

21.
encourages at the same time local and regional actors to
make use, on a project basis, of the funds available, namely the
External Borders Fund, the Return Fund, the European Refugee
Fund and the Integration Fund and stresses that these funds
should be made available without further delays, and notes with
concern that these funds should have been in operation in
January 2007 whilst the return fund would not even be avail-
able until 2008 at the earliest;

calls for Member States to associate,

in respect of the
22.
principle of subsidiarity,
local and regional authorities in the
elaboration of migration policies and in the establishment of
national plans for integration and employment,
including the
number of foreign workers to be admitted in their territory;
furthermore considers that the local and regional dimensions
must be included in the analyses, statistics, and reports which
serve to frame European immigration policies;

Concerning Relations with Africa

23.
supports the approach of increasing the dialogue and
cooperation on migration issues with Africa, covering the whole
range of migration issues, from legal and illegal migration to
strengthening protection for refugees and better harnessing the
links between migration policy and development policy;

(2) Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Towards a Future Mari-
time Policy for the European Union’ unanimously adopted at its
68th plenary session, held on 13 and 14 February 2007 (meeting of
13 February 2007).

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24.
recalls that, with regard to the North African countries,
further developments will be sought, and will promote and
foster bilateral protocols at regional level, within the framework
of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and of the Wider
Neighbourhood Action Plan for the Outermost Regions (ORs)
and their neighbouring countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which
takes into account migration issues whilst work would also have
to continue in the EUROMED context as well as enhancing
further the bilateral cooperation with the Mediterranean part-
ners involving local and regional authorities within this frame-
work;

25.
stresses that, in this framework of bilateral cooperation,
it is crucial to make use of the experience built up by some
regions, such as the Outermost Regions (ORs), which, due to
their specific geographical situation and proven experience,
provide the EU with a unique platform for cooperation with
neighbouring countries;

supports the EU cooperation with Africa as defined by
26.
the EU Strategy for Africa which primary aims are the achieve-
ment of the Millennium Development Goals for the promotion
of
sustainable development, security and good governance
through a continued dialogue with ACP countries based on the
agenda of Article 13 of the Cotonou agreement;

27.
notes that Article 13 of the Cotonou agreement provides
that ‘Each of the ACP States shall accept the return of and readmission
of any of its nationals who are illegally present on the territory of a
Member States of the European Union at that Member State's request
and without further formalities. ACP States will provide their nationals
with appropriate identity documents for such purposes’;

28.
stresses that the EU should promote the enforcement of
this Article and increase substantially its efforts to oblige coun-
tries of origin to take back those immigrants who do not
qualify for asylum and who have nevertheless taken the route of
illegal passage;

notes the proposal

29.
for the creation of platforms on
migration and development bringing together African countries,
EU Member States and International organisations in an effort
to manage migration more effectively in the interests of all;
believes that local and regional authorities, particularly those
that are directly concerned, should participate, possibly via their
national and regional associations,
in these cooperation plat-
forms and in the level of dialogue with ACP countries since
such participation would be to the benefit of all parties
concerned;

30.
supports the initiative of the Commission to promoting
investments in labour-intensive sectors in regions in Africa with
high outward migration and to inviting Member States to
complement this contribution, whilst not forgetting that such
investment cannot be promoted without the effective involve-
ment of private business, for which instruments facilitating such
investment must be provided;

31.
supports the Commission proposal of creating migration
profiles for each interested developing country, and, of migra-

tion support teams (MISTs) made up of Member State experts
which could provide the necessary assistance to requesting
African States including initiatives by the Commission stimu-
lating the establishment of a pan-African network of migration
‘observatories’ and/or migration research institutes but stresses
that local and regional authorities are to be equipped with the
necessary expertise and moreover stress that experts coming
from regions and cities are able to provide a sure added value to
these teams;

that

stresses

local and regional administrations can
32.
information presented in the
contribute in the collection of
Immigration Portal, in the European Job Mobility Portal, in the
EURES network, and in the European Researchers Mobility
Portal that as stated above would provide African countries with
information on the legal possibilities for working in Europe,
including through specific information campaigns and in facili-
tating the management of seasonal workers, the exchanges of
students and researchers and other forms of legal movement of
people;

Combating illegal immigration and strengthening integration measures

supports the proposal

33.
for new legislation aiming to
impose penalties on the persons employing illegal immigrants
and initiatives whereby Europol will dedicate attention to
combating facilitated illegal
immigration and trafficking in
human beings;

34.
stresses the need to equally endeavour the adoption of all
measures needed to put an end to human trafficking and the
persons and/or criminal organisations which carry it out, as well
as combat the black economy which gives rise to such activities;

35.
supports the Commission in strengthening its activities
on integration measures, whereby instruments will be developed
that allow for the wider participation of the different stake-
holders, including migrants themselves, thus contributing to the
promotion of an effective integration strategy; believes that
regional and local governments must be considered as stake-
holders and must be involved in all such dialogue initiatives;

36.
notes that the instruments will include a) the establish-
ment of an integration platform where relevant partners can
exchange views on a regular basis; b) the consolidation of the
role played by local authorities; and c) the creation of an Inte-
gration website and new editions of the Integration Handbook
and the Annual report on migration and integration;

Concerning Frontex

37.
recommends the activation of Article 7 of Regulation
(EC) 2007/2004 establishing Frontex as this constitutes an
important solidarity measure between Member States by the
voluntary pooling of Member States' technical equipment under
the agency's management which could be at the disposal of
requesting Member States following a needs and risk assessment
carried out by Frontex;

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38.
notes that in order for Frontex to be able to produce
targeted and general risk analysis, with a view to preventing and
managing critical situations, it would require access to informa-
tion gathered by Member States' Immigration Liaison Officers
(ILOs);

39.
supports the Commission's proposal for an amendment
to Regulation (EC) 377/2004 on the creation of the Immigra-
tion Liaison Officers' Network in order to cater for access to
information by Frontex and its participation in meetings orga-
nised in the framework of the Network since such information
should be a useful resource and thus such access to information
is being supported;

40.
stresses that the Commission ensures that the sea border
patrols by Frontex particularly off the Canary Islands and the
central Mediterranean area are effected during the entire periods
of calm seas, particularly from mid Spring up to beginning
Autumn in order to prevent further immigration flows to the
EU Member States;

41.
encourages the Commission to propose incentives to
engage the northern African states in working together to
prevent people-trafficking on Europe's Mediterranean coasts.
Nevertheless, the best method for achieving a long-term solution
is to implement policies to aid development in the countries in
which migration originates;

Concerning the Eastern and South-Eastern Regions Neighbouring the
European Union

notes that

42.
the key objective in applying the Global
approach to Eastern and South Eastern regions neighbouring
the EU is the need to maintain policy coherence and to ensure
complementarity with ongoing dialogue and cooperation initia-
tives on migration and related areas already taking place in the
overall context of the EU external relations policy;

supports the opinion of the Commission that dialogue
43.
with candidate and partner country authorities would include
how the developmental impact of migration can help strengthen
stability and foster growth in the region including the promo-

Brussels, 11 October 2007.

tion of policies to prevent brain drain including investment in
training and capacity building to improve work conditions and
increase labour opportunities;

44.
proposes to work closer to the Congress for Local and
Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe in relation to
countries which are members of the Council so as to improve
the capacity of partner countries to treat illegal migrants in
standards and the needs of
accordance with international
victims of trafficking and other vulnerable persons;

45.
recommends to involve local and regional authorities
and their national associations particularly more closely in
candidate countries but also in partner countries in EU contri-
butions such as training and twinning of law enforcement offi-
cials, cooperation with Frontex, social protection and training of
officials for labour matters, the rehabilitation of victims of traf-
ficking, the collection of data and the monitoring of migration
flows;

46.
welcomes the proposal that Frontex should be given a
more prominent role including development of cooperation
with Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, the Western Balkans
and Asian countries but stresses that this agency should first
strengthen its current operations and risk analysis as these have
commenced late during the year and suspended during summer
when in the southern region of Europe the influx of illegal
immigrants is extremely high;

supports

the proposal

47.
to deepen a comprehensive
dialogue with Russia on all migration-related issues including
asylum, the protection of internally displaced persons in line
with international standards, the fight against illegal immigra-
tion and trafficking in human beings, labour migration and all
relevant social aspects of migration;

48.
reiterates that those states which have doubted the effi-
cacy of such joint patrols to be more willing to allocate
resources to Frontex, not only out of a spirit of burden-sharing
but also out of self-interest because illegal
immigration is a
pan-European problem, not simply affecting those countries
bordering the Mediterranean.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE