Compromise proves elusive as Malta flags reservations

Ivan Camilleri in Brussels

Illigal immigration has become a very sensitive issue in the European Union. Apart from the group of 12 illegal immigrants who were brought ashore at Haywharf in Pietà on Wednesday, some 66 would-be immigrants were intercepted aboard a fishing boat near Spain's Canary island of Tenerife on their way to European soil from Africa, earlier this week.

A number of EU member states, including Malta, are objecting to the compromise reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Commission's proposed directive to regulate illegal immigrants in the EU, known as the Return Directive. The issue was discussed on Wednesday during a meeting of EU permanent representatives but an agreement was not found when the meeting ended late at night.

Sources close to the meeting told The Times that many member states failed to agree over the length of time illegal migrants can be detained and banned from re-entry.

"There was no agreement," the sources said. "More than 10 countries had reservations and that is quite a lot."

Malta, through its Permanent Representative Richard Cachia Caruana, also flagged its opposition stating that it has general reservations on the issue. Malta still maintains that certain aspects of policy dealing with illegal immigration should be the competence of individual member states. It does not believe in a one-size-fits-all solution arguing that its circumstances are much different from those of other member states. Germany, Austria and Greece expressed concerns over the cost of granting legal aid to illegal migrants to have a judge review the decision to expel them, the sources said. Other member states raised questions over the five-year re-entry ban or the time to be given to illegal migrants to agree to a voluntary return.

Following almost three years of negotiations, Parliament and the Council last month struck a preliminary deal allowing a maximum 18-month detention of illegal migrants and a five-year ban on their returning to the EU.

However, following a presentation on Wednesday many EU member states opposed the deal when asked to rubber-stamp it.

Human rights activists and illegal migrants on Wednesday demonstrated in Brussels against the proposed 18-month detention cap and re-entry ban, saying such measures would effectively criminalise migration and build a "fortress Europe".

Immigration is becoming a very sensitive issue in the EU, where the European Commission estimates up to eight million illegal migrants live. More than 200,000 illegal migrants were arrested in the EU in the first half of 2007 and fewer than 90,000 were expelled.