Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-13-Speech-2-022"
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"en.20010313.5.2-022"2
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"Mr President, this debate on my report is most timely, coming as it does only two days ahead of the first formal Justice and Home Affairs Council under the Swedish Presidency. Progress on the directive and framework decision setting common penalties for facilitating entry and residence in the EU will be on the agenda at that Council meeting.
When I was the UK Minister responsible for carriers' liability and other immigration issues, I always found that although the UK had strict rules on carriers' liability the system itself was open to criticism for being to some extent unbalanced and unfair. Some carriers were exempt from attention and in the EU as a whole the discrepancies between the way different nation States treated this issue led to loopholes and weaknesses in what should be an area of cooperation and coordination.
Because the burden-sharing was clearly unfair, we have an opportunity here. The French Presidency took the initiative but I hope my report has improved upon that initiative in a way that will be seen to be fair and reasonable in dealing with what is undoubtedly a very difficult problem.
My report ensures that carriers' liability extends to all transport to the EU of third-country nationals who are undocumented. That is fair and, although individual carriers' groups will be upset that there should be any liability at all, if it is spread across all the responsible carriers it will help them all.
I also believe, however, that the responsibility of carriers should be limited. Some have suggested that they should actually be required to retransport the people they have carried or remedy the situation. That would be draconian and excessive. Carriers should, of course, report the matter to the police or other appropriate authorities, who would then take the necessary steps.
It is only fair that, if an individual is subsequently granted asylum, the penalty on the carrier should be repaid. That has not been the case up to now but it is included in my report.
The final point is that penalties must be approximated throughout Europe. At present some countries have no penalty whatsoever, some impose a very small fine and in some countries the fines are perhaps too penal. Approximating the fines will help to stop this activity and make people work together.
It is important that we deal with this matter. Carriers must not be left alone; the authorities have responsibilities too. We wish to be humanitarian but this is an issue that can and must be dealt with by the EU as a whole. On that basis, I commend my report to the House."@en1
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