Migration policy tops EU summit agenda

A new migration policy for the EU including measures on fighting illegal flows will be dominating the talks between the 25 EU leaders meeting in Brussels for their traditional two-day end of year summit.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Foreign Minister Michael Frendo will represent Malta at the summit.

Sources close to the Finnish presidency yesterday told The Times the draft summit conclusions, already discussed by member states at Permanent Representatives' level, include a number of measures that should help Malta in the fight against the influx of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

The sources said the Finnish government had promised Malta at the beginning of its six-month term that it would do all it can to help the island on the immigration problem.

The draft conclusions, seen by The Times, emphasise the need that during the course of next year the EU will "strengthen its cooperation among member states in the fight against illegal immigration".

The draft conclusions state that EU leaders should agree to invite its border control agency Frontex to finalise its ongoing work on the creation of a centralised record of technical equipment offered by member states that could be put at the disposal of another member state in case of immigration problems and to report on the progress made to the Council by the end of April 2007. Frontex is also expected to be asked to give priority to establish a permanent coastal patrol network for the Mediterranean.

The summit is also expected to call upon Frontex to ensure that joint patrolling exercises to be held next year "are in place in good time and for longer periods, in order to address mass migration flows on all routes during the period of major concern, notably by summer and fall".

The presidency sources said that if all these measures go through, Malta would be in a much better position next year to combat illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, the issue was also raised at the European Parliament yesterday by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil during a debate in preparation for today's summit in the presence of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

Dr Busuttil said that whereas this year will be remembered as the year when Europe woke up to reality on immigration, next year must be the year for proving that and by acting together, even this difficult challenge can be overcome. He referred to the coastal patrols launched in the Mediterranean this year and appealed that these should be stepped up.

"Next year we must not just continue these patrols, but strengthen them and keep them throughout all the vulnerable months," he insisted.

The Nationalist MEP added that this week Parliament was adopting four new EU funds covering different aspects of immigration, notably a fund specifically set up to help EU countries strengthen their external borders.