Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-31-Speech-3-252"
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"en.20040331.10.3-252"2
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"Madam President, at a time when migration flow management and the fight against illegal immigration are becoming ever more complex, it is very difficult for us to accept this Spanish initiative in either substance or form. As regards the form, to accept this initiative would be to condone the Council’s working method, which consists in constantly amending texts proposed to Parliament. I applaud the work of the rapporteur and his admirable consistency. He was in fact given new versions when he had already drafted his report, so that the earlier text became null and void. This is quite unacceptable. Quite apart from the energy and time that have been wasted, such an attitude betrays a lack of coordination within the Council and contempt for Parliament and the representatives of the people of Europe, which gives us cause for dismay.
One may then question the result obtained. Is it really effective? Reading the last official text of the Spanish initiative, one comes across the words ‘obligation’ and ‘penalty’ in practically every paragraph. The objective is clearly defined; it involves the fight against illegal immigration. The penalties should, therefore, essentially concern smugglers of clandestine migrants. But no! Penalties and obligations apply to the airlines and we cannot accept that the states should abandon their responsibilities, handing them over to private companies in this way and then penalising them if the work is not done properly. In fact, obliging private companies to collect data with a view to controlling illegal immigration means requiring the carriers to take over the obligations of the states.
The objective of reducing illegal immigration is a legitimate one, but how can the proposed text be effective? There has been no demonstration of its actual operational usefulness, and the fact that only the air carriers are concerned has already weakened its objective. This text, if accepted as it stands, would completely disrupt the work of the airlines, since the transmission of data, which is obligatory for these companies, represents a considerable burden in terms of costs. In some countries, passports are not machine-readable; in other countries, the machines are not yet available: in order to rectify these failings, Member States do not provide for any system of compensation. Also, the system of penalties would be terribly onerous and would not take account of the efforts made by the penalised companies with a view to meeting these obligations.
In conclusion, then, illegal immigration must of course be combated, but there are, in my view, many other ways. We therefore, in fact, reject this initiative and we should like the Commission to make us a proposal in the future, a coherent proposal, and one that respects competences and the public’s rights and duties. We trust that the Commission will be able to do this."@en1
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