Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-07-Speech-2-386-000"
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"en.20110607.26.2-386-000"2
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"Mr President, the question that has been raised by Mr Papanikolaou addresses – as do later questions – the different angles and perspectives of Schengen, the migratory crisis and the pressure put on Schengen. So let me first answer Mr Papanikolaou.
It must be clear that any decision on the relocation of irregular migrants and beneficiaries of international protection depends on the Council and on the willingness of the Member States. The Member States have not yet expressed any support for such an approach on a general basis with, however, one notable exception – the pilot project on relocation to other Member States for persons who have received international protection on Malta. In order to give a timely follow-up to this, I organised a pledging conference a month ago. I am pleased to say that over 300 places were made available from Member States and associated countries. Others will hopefully be offered in the future as well. This is a sign of concrete solidarity. I want to thank those countries and I hope that they can also contribute in the future.
Earlier, we discussed Mr Coelho’s report and the need to safeguard Schengen as one of the most beautiful achievements of the European Union. The right to move freely is indeed a very important embodiment of the European project. More than 1.25 billion cross-border journeys are made by tourists within the EU each year. Free movement is also a great boost and a benefit for the Internal Market, so safeguarding this achievement is key to the Commission and an absolute priority for me personally.
Let me emphasise once again that the Commission’s approach is to reinforce Schengen, to improve the evaluation – as we already proposed before Christmas – to clarify the rules, to identify the tools, to assist Member States in need and, possibly, to introduce a mechanism which would bring a coordinated Community-based response to exceptional situations, for instance, when a Member State fails to control its internal borders.
The Commission’s main objective is to have a preventive approach. The proposed changes to strengthen the monitoring mechanism, which is designed to maintain mutual trust between the Member States and their capacity to apply effectively and efficiently the accompanying measures, will make it possible to maintain an area without borders.
This will be done through more on-the-spot visits to check the application of the Schengen acquis to Member States. These controls could lead to recommendations to the Member States for immediate actions and deadlines for implementing them. Increased trust among Member States will also reduce the recourse by Member States to unilateral initiatives to temporarily reintroduce internal borders or to intensify police checks at internal border zones.
The spirit of Schengen is a spirit of trust and solidarity. It is important that the EU show concrete solidarity to the Member States most affected by large-scale inflows of migrants and persons in need of international protection. This solidarity can take different forms by assisting, for instance, where the external border is under pressure. Frontex plays a key role here and we have shown in the recent RABIT intervention at the Greek-Turkish border, and in the joint naval operation Hermes, that Member States are ready to assist other Member States.
We must also foster daily cooperation between national authorities in the field of border surveillance. This is the purpose of the European border surveillance system (EUROSUR), which has been progressively developed since 2008, and for which the Commission will present a legislative proposal during this year.
We can also show solidarity by showing financial solidarity. There is a framework programme this year that takes into consideration the management of migration flows. We have a financial mechanism to improve the management of these flows at the European level and to strengthen the solidarity between Member States. Of course, we now have a large consultation process and we are under budgetary restraints, but you can count on me to ensure that there will still be money under this fund for the future as well.
Those Member States most exposed to migratory pressures and located at the external borders of the EU must receive adequate financial compensation for the tasks they are carrying out in the interests of the Schengen area as a whole – this by fair burden-sharing in order to support those Member States affected by large inflows of persons in need of international protection."@en1
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