Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-07-Speech-4-241"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020207.14.4-241"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, I apologise for my late arrival and I would like to thank you for rescheduling my speech to a later time. The reason why we tabled this question is because the public sees the problem at the Eurotunnel site – since it involves two large European countries and also since it concerns our security and asylum policy – as requiring intervention by the European Union.
We cannot let this situation rumble on, as it would then illustrate Europe’s lack of power. This situation also implies that we have envisaged solutions that can be applied to other borders and to other locations that are under pressure from migration. We are therefore calling, since the asylum policy and judicial and security policy are not sufficiently harmonised, for the Commission to work with France and Great Britain so that strong measures can be taken in three areas.
The first area is to re-establish, as far as possible, the freedom of movement, particularly that of rail freight in the Channel Tunnel. What is happening, despite considerable investment by the rail operators and the SNCF in particular, contradicts our policy of moving towards using rail rather than road.
The second area is that if we fail to harmonise security legislation and mechanisms, we must take coordinated and coherent measures in the two countries to combat those involved in human trafficking, by increasing controls and introducing stiffer penalties, as this activity constitutes an intolerable attack on human rights and is a shameful trade.
As far as the third area is concerned, what is happening at Eurotunnel demonstrates the urgent need to harmonise Europe’s asylum policy. This is because what is happening there, and what France and England are being remonstrated for, is a problem which may concern all European Union countries in the future. We know, thanks to the experience of what is happening throughout the world, that there will never be a perfect and wholly reliable solution, given the disorder in the world and the growing disparities between North and South.
The first and most important solution, the fundamental solution is, of course, to have a much more generous and more balanced development policy. However, since we do not have this and as a short-term measure, I think that we must implement common measures in the two countries, so that we can ruthlessly track the people who trade on illusions – human traffickers, in other words. I think that this is very important. Lastly, I personally hope that, rather than leaving the these two countries to face their responsibilities alone, we find, with the help of the Commission, measures which are strong enough to be held up as an example and that can be applied to other locations in Europe."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples