Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-07-Speech-4-239"
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"en.20020207.14.4-239"2
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"Mr President, I am truly perplexed by the oral questions tabled by the Group of the Party of European Socialists and the Group of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party on the disrupted Channel Tunnel rail freight services. This disruption was caused by refugees trying to enter Great Britain illegally.
Judging by the oral questions tabled, the main, or even the only problem, is that of the disruption to the freedom of movement of goods through the Channel Tunnel, and therefore the losses incurred by rail freight companies which could be exacerbated – I shudder at the thought – by unfair competition between the various methods of transport to the detriment of the railways.
Like my fellow Members, I strongly regret the losses incurred by the rail freight companies and I would even add that, in my view, it is illogical that France, whose socialist government bears the responsibility for this matter, is not severely punished, morally and financially, for its inability to maintain public order.
However, I would also like to say, ladies and gentlemen, that this matter poses much wider and much more serious societal problems than just unfair competition between private operators.
That is why I will add a set of additional questions to those tabled by the PSE and ELDR Groups.
First of all, some of the people who attempt to enter Great Britain illegally are asylum seekers, but some are illegal immigrants, even in France. How do many illegal immigrants manage to reach the heart of Europe, having passed several internal borders, without being noticed? This is a fundamental issue that should be resolved.
Furthermore, what measures are being taken to immediately escort these illegal immigrants back to the European Union’s external border?
My second question refers to the fact that a large number of asylum seekers who attempt to enter Great Britain are from Afghanistan. However, as far as I know, the Taliban regime has now been eliminated and these people can return home. What measures are therefore being taken to repatriate them?
My third and final question refers to some people's belief that if we had a single European asylum policy, we would not have such problems. Of course, this might mean that refugees would no longer receive unequal treatment in different European Union countries. But does the Commission think that the overall number of asylum seekers would go down? If it does, how exactly would this be achieved? On the other hand, this might mean that if the European asylum standards were aligned at a high level – which is what the Commission regularly states it intends to do – the overall number of asylum seekers in the European Union would significantly increase."@en1
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