Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-11-Speech-4-155"
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"en.20020411.8.4-155"2
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"Mr President, the desperate situation at Fréthun, which I have also visited, demands a response on two fronts. The rail-freight operators and dependent businesses want a response which concentrates on the immediate and long-standing need for sufficient security to keep the freight moving. They are perfectly justified. Businesses should not be the fall-guys of government failure to cope with asylum-seekers. Businesses need fences at Fréthun, but that is also crucial to stop migrants dying. That is the responsibility of the SNCF and French government. I am shocked that the Socialist Group refused to put that in the motion. I call on them, especially British Labour MEPs, to back Amendment No 2 on this point.
Amendment No 6 by the Socialist Group is hopelessly weak, letting governments off the hook. Businesses adversely affected also need finance and they need immediate support and compensation from the two governments. I will also be shocked if Labour MEPs vote against that.
Amendment No 1 is an ELDR Group amendment, which calls for the strengthening of the current inadequate intervention powers of the Commission to clear obstructions to the free movement of goods. I am told the Conservatives are reluctant to support this, but I hope it is not true.
The second response required in the Calais area is to address the asylum question in a humane and practical way. My group cannot support Amendment No 5 by the Socialist Group because it attributes the situation at Fréthun purely to pressure people feel to migrate from their home countries. Obviously that is the broad context, which is why the resolution in a paragraph I drafted says the long-term solution must be found in a concerted, European asylum policy. There is also stress on the need for a sensitive humanitarian approach.
In the immediate future, the British and French governments must reach a practical agreement to process asylum claims on-site at the Sangatte centre, not close it – that would be counterproductive. But the Socialist Group amendment, probably deliberately, ignores the responsibility of the SNCF and the government to deal with the asylum pressures. This is unacceptable.
The rail-freight operators are on the brink of collapse. Eight thousand workers could be out of a job. I urge support for the motion and for Amendments Nos 1 to 4."@en1
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