Simon Busuttil gets important immigration assignment

MEP Simon Busuttil has been appointed the European Parliament's rapporteur on the EU Common Immigration Policy.

Dr Busuttil will be responsible for drawing up a report establishing the position of the European Parliament on the European Commission's initiative. It is the first time that a Maltese MEP has been given the leading role in overseeing an immigration dossier on behalf of the institution.

The appointment comes in the wake of a new communication published last week by the European Commission on 'A Common Immigration Policy for Europe: Principles, Actions, Tools.'

Dr Busuttil told The Sunday Times: "I will now be in a position to directly influence the shaping of this important EU policy that affects us all.

"Immigration repeatedly emerges in opinion polls as a top concern for citizens. Europe therefore urgently needs a common immigration policy that works. It can only get there if we give Europe the tools to work. For too long, this has not been the case and this is why the EU immigration policy has moved in fits and starts. I hope to give new energy to this process," he said.

In its communication, the Commission says that a common immigration policy should be based on prosperity, including the welfare of immigrants, solidarity, especially with the most burdened EU countries, and on security, to respond to the need to improve the protection of the Union's external borders.

"I want to embark on a wide consultation and public awareness exercise and want to hear what people have to say. This policy must be based on what the people expect from us," Dr Busuttil said.

This is not the MEP's first immigration-related post. Earlier this year his political group, the European People's Party, appointed him as its spokesman on Frontex, the EU's border control agency. Last year he also led an EP delegation on a fact-finding mission to Libya, to see firsthand the illegal immigrant situation.