Finland should sing from the same hymn book

The subject of illegal immigration was conspicuous by its absence in the Finnish President's address to the plenary session of the European Parliament last Tuesday. It was all the more striking due to the vigorous approach to the issue which European politicians seem to be taking since the end of the summer recess.

For example, the President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell, kicked off the first plenary session since Strasbourg with a strong call for a serious answer to the problem of illegal immigration, whereas the group to which I belong, the EPP-ED, placed the issue of illegal immigration at the very top of its political agenda for the months ahead.

The Commission, through Justice Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini, also seems to be particularly close to the problem. However, President Halonen of Finland, which holds the EU Presidency until the end of the year, did not mention the word immigration once in her 30-minute speech. By European Parliament speaking time standards 30 minutes is a long time, so time contstraints was certainly not the issue.

Hearing Mr Borrell and Mr Poettering, the president of the EPP-ED, place such a strong emphasis on illegal immigration was a very encouraging way to get back to work. It seemed as though the tireless efforts within all the EU's institutions seemed to be finally paying off.

True, summer is now nearly over and it would have been better to have these reactions before. But the fact that the political attention and discourse is now present is an essential element to finding a lasting solution to dealing with illegal immigration. This is indeed a pre-requisite for any convergence of ideas which is so necessary for the development of policy.

The Finnish Presidency however seems to be in a blissfully peaceful world of its own. Indeed, so much did Mrs Halonen seem unperturbed by the events in the south of the EU that she did not even take note of Mr Borrell's remark just before her speech that the Finnish were the first to raise the problem of European immigration policy back in Tampere in 1999. Immigration was not going to be part of her intervention, and that was that.

Shortly after her address, I issued a statement expressing my disappointment. If this were the first occasion where the Finnish Presidency seemed to express its disinterest with immigration I would have reacted less strongly. Back in July, however, no representative of the Presidency was present during the debate on immigration either. This is not common procedure as the Council always sits in on such types of debates. We are now two months into this Presidency and I believe it is important that we put our foot down.

The agenda issued by the Finns at the end of June contains some very encouraging points regarding illegal immigration, such as the development of a model for the management of the EU's external borders. At the beginning of July, Mr Rajamaki, Finland's interior minister, stressed that immigration situation in the Mediterranean must be reviewed and that he was committed to a common EU response to the problem.

I do not see why the Presidency should retreat from its own proposed agenda exactly when all the other institutions seem to be finally on board. The window of opportunity which is open at the moment to start dealing seriously with immigration is too good to risk closing it. And in politics, windows of opportunity close very quickly indeed. That is why we should not let tell-tale signs go unnoticed.

I am still hopeful that at the end of this Presidency political commentators will be writing about Tampere to Tampere, about how the Finnish Presidency concluded what it began in 1999. In this sense my criticisms should be seen not as destructive but as being intended to push the Presidency to live up to its commitments. I will keep pushing for this to the best of my abilities as an MEP because now is not the time to give up.

If the Finnish Presidency continues with its seeming disinterest, or at best its confusing attitude towards the immigration question, the seats reserved for its representatives during the European Parliament's plenary assemblies are going to be quite hot.

Mr Casa is a Nationalist Member of the European Parliament