Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-26-Speech-3-066"
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"en.20070926.2.3-066"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I too am grateful to everyone who has spoken in this extremely important debate. I believe that Europe must be truly united in its approach to this global phenomenon which involves millions of children, women and men and affects all continents.
Quite frankly, we cannot integrate by law those who do not wish to integrate, those who are not prepared to move forward, those who think that Europe can still tolerate forced marriages or polygamy. Such things are not acceptable because we have our laws and our universal values.
This, then, means education, it means language-learning, it means vocational training, and it means regular employment and the rejection of anything unlawful. It means taking a firm stance on unlawfulness. Someone expressed this thought, with which I particularly agree: immigrants who commit crimes are the worst enemies of honest immigrants who work and earn their living normally.
The reason is that we have to explain this policy to our citizens who are full of concern: they should not be afraid of immigration as such, but of those who commit crimes. It is our duty to ensure that people who commit crimes are punished, because otherwise we do not draw a distinction for our citizens and we fail to address this fear, this concern which then turns into racism and becomes xenophobia, a dreadful but growing phenomenon within the European Union.
To conclude, Mr President, politicians have to make choices. I believe that our choice must be to establish a global pact of rights and duties among equals, among counterparts. There should not be one side laying down conditions and the other accepting them; nor should anything be imposed on us that we find unacceptable. This is what is needed because we are talking about the dignity and rights of human beings. We are talking neither about an economic remedy nor about a bureaucratic remedy.
First of all, it has been said - and I agree - that we must combat unlawful conduct by taking action against traffickers and those who exploit illegal immigrants, and by means of a repatriation policy that is both credible and fully respectful of individual rights, of the dignity of every human being. The European Union has already undertaken some repatriation activities and may continue to do so. I would recall that repatriation initiatives are often delegated to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, so as to ensure maximum transparency in our respect for human rights.
I believe that a European policy has to link aid, respect for human rights, trade policy with Africa and immigration. I very much agree with Mr Watson's wise words about those countries: ‘we take their goods or we take their people’. We must reflect on this, especially because the strategy must be a global one and cannot exclude trade relations or our policy of development aid to Africa.
External border controls are also vital. Some of you have referred to them; some have expressed doubts. I believe that Frontex deserves support. It deserves support because, as happened this summer, not only have human lives been saved that would otherwise have been lost, but the Frontex officials have arrested a large number of people: 400 people, members of trafficking organisations, have been caught and handed over to the authorities. This is a large number because it relates only to the past summer.
I therefore hope that this House will recognise the need to give Frontex additional resources in the 2008 budget. I know there is an amendment seeking to freeze as much as 30% of Frontex’s operating costs with immediate effect. I do hope this proposal will be reconsidered and that the budget will instead be increased, subject to monitoring and a fully responsible attitude to expenditure.
There have of course been many references to economic migration. The detailed proposal I shall make about a European work permit certainly does not mean that we will decide in Brussels how many immigrants are needed in each country. That will remain the responsibility of each country’s national government and national market, so I wish to reassure all those who have questions or concerns about this. In other words, each Member State will be free to decide how many of each category of non-Community workers it needs. However, ladies and gentlemen, one thing Member States will not be able to do is to say ‘we do not need any at all’ and then carry on tolerating illegal immigration and the exploitation of undeclared employment. That is not possible because there will be European rules.
Immigration naturally brings us to a universal value, which some of you have mentioned: mobility among peoples. I believe that there are opportunities, but also rights. Rights are always accompanied by duties. A policy relating to rights but not duties would be unthinkable. We cannot and would not wish to impose our European laws or funding on anyone else unless our counterparts agree. This is something we must make crystal clear: our idea, our policy, is partnership. It is that of a large-scale pact with the countries from which immigrants come and through which they transit.
Such a pact should include - and this is a key component - total respect on our territory for our laws, for fundamental rights and for our most absolute and universal values: life, the dignity of every woman and every man, respect for the individual. This brings me to integration.
Integrating immigrants means showing respect for their background and religion, because they are a source of enrichment for every one of us, but it also entails respect from them for our traditions, our background, our culture and our religion. That is why, as I see it, integration means participation."@en1
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