Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-02-14-Speech-3-268"
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"en.20070214.21.3-268"2
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"Mr President, firstly I would like to thank the rapporteur of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, Mrs Esteves, and the rapporteurs of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr Pinior and Mr Vatanen, for their reports on visa facilitation and readmission agreements. They reflect the European Parliament’s concerns and the advice to which the Commission will pay great attention in monitoring the implementation of the two agreements. I wish to confirm the joint Council-Commission statement that was just heard by you, that Vice-President Frattini and I have addressed to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the request of its chairman, Mr Cavada.
Through visa facilitation, we are decisively contributing to the common objective of building a new Europe without dividing lines and facilitating travel among our citizens. We are fostering trust and dialogue. People-to-people contacts are intensifying and our economic and societal interaction is increasing to the benefit of all our citizens. Through readmission we are effectively fighting illegal migration, contributing to joint migration management.
Finally, the first agreement on visa facilitation ever negotiated by the Community and the first readmission agreement concluded with a major partner country are tangible signs of our practical cooperation within the aforementioned common space on freedom, security and justice. They are evidence of our resolve to successfully address common challenges with Russia. They will remain, I think, as landmark, sectoral agreements within the overall new architecture provided by the strategic agreement on which we hope to launch negotiations with Russia soon.
I would not underestimate the concerns the European Union has over the human rights situation in Russia. We remain worried about the shortcomings regarding in particular the rule of law and media freedom in Russia. I understand and share the concerns raised by the European Parliament in this regard.
The Commission has always looked to the European Parliament as an ally in its promotion of the principles of democracy and the universality of human rights in our relations with partner countries such as Russia. For their own sake, but also because they are cornerstones of peace and human development, they are indeed agreed common values and the foundations of the long-term strategic partnership which the European Union wants to have with Russia.
Since the beginning, the Commission has been and will continue to emphasise to the Russian authorities that our strategic partnership is based on common values which underpin EU-Russia relations as enshrined in the partnership and cooperation agreement and in the four Common Spaces roadmaps. They explicitly foresee the strengthening of our cooperation through respect of individual rights in the EU Member States and Russia.
The readmission agreement fully respects human rights and fundamental freedoms and is consistent with the EU’s human rights policies. Article 18 of the agreement explicitly clarifies that it is without prejudice to the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the Community, the Member States and the Russian Federation arising from international law, in particular from the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights and the 1984 UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The practical implementation of the readmission agreement will fall under the exclusive competence of the Member States and Russia’s national authorities. All of those authorities are directly bound by the above-mentioned international instruments and their individual return decisions are subject to judicial review before national courts.
As far as asylum seekers are concerned, I would like to clarify that they are not included in the scope of the readmission agreement. They have for the duration of their asylum procedure a temporary right to stay in the territory of Member States. The agreement covers only illegal immigrants, that means people who do not or no longer fulfil the conditions in force for entry to, presence in, or residence in the territory.
In the case of asylum applications at the border, the principle of non refoulement has in particular to be fully respected by Member States in accordance with Article 18 of the Agreement.
Honourable Members, the extension of our common borders after the EU enlargement has of course broadened the scope of our cooperation with Russia. Russia is, and should be, a strategic partner and an important neighbour to the European Union. Now migration policy and movement of people have become strategic priorities for the EU’s external relations in general and with Russia in particular. I firmly believe that only by engaging with Russia can we achieve real results in those areas of common concern."@en1
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