Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-13-Speech-2-036"
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"en.20010313.5.2-036"2
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". – Mr President, may I start with a remark on procedure. These debates in Parliament on initiatives from Member States are somehow incomplete because there is a piece missing. The author of the initiative does not take the floor and does not address the arguments of Parliament.
The Commission, I must tell you very frankly, is in a very awkward situation in these debates because we are not the authors of these initiatives. We do not even have the right to present an amended proposal, we just participate in the debate. So, it is difficult for the Commission to take the floor and defend the proposal, or attack the proposal, because, up to a certain point, we are sidelined in this debate. Of course, I share your concern that a piecemeal approach is not the adequate way of addressing this very sensitive issue of illegal immigration.
We have tried to give some support to a coordinated and integrated approach to illegal immigration and to immigration as a broader issue but we need to address the initiatives that Member States raise such as the current one. Therefore the Commission will confine itself to three main remarks. The first, which perhaps is a pure truism, is that the issue of carriers' liability is a very complex and sensitive one. Like some of the previous speakers, the Commission thinks that carriers' liability may be an efficient tool in fighting illegal immigration but the effectiveness of carriers' liability depends to a large extent on a well-balanced approach. Such a well-balanced approach is extremely difficult to achieve because it is necessary to take into account the legitimate interests of all sides, not only the Member States but also the persons in need of humanitarian protection, and the interests of the transport industry. Your discussion this morning and the discussion that is going on in the Council have shown that it is extremely difficult to strike a balance which is acceptable to everyone.
I do not think that we are privatising the fight against illegal immigration. I must say that I see it very differently. I think that the management of immigration falls within the responsibility of Member States, of public authorities, but we have to call upon civil society to be engaged in the management of immigration. This broad concept brings not only the responsibility of carriers but also the commitment of NGOs into the common management of immigration policy. So, we have one strict criterion to analyse the French proposal. The initiative should be welcomed if it provides added value to the already existing provisions of Article 26 of the Schengen implementing convention.
The draft we are considering today is only a first step. In the long run it will be necessary to go further and look coherently at all means of transport including freight transport. Therefore, the Commission, for its part, will assume its responsibility on this issue and we will try to prepare the ground in close cooperation with all interested parties for a more harmonised European approach. We think that we will be able to bring along a proposal covering all means of transport and built upon close cooperation with humanitarian organisations, with the carriers themselves, and, of course, with law enforcement agencies."@en1
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