Wednesday, 15th October 2008
Financial crisis to overshadow migration pact at EU summit
Illegal immigrants aboard a Spanish rescue boat after arriving at the port of Arguineguin on Spain’s Canary island of Gran Canaria on Monday.
EU leaders are tomorrow expected to approve a new migration pact at their two-day summit in Brussels expected to be dominated by talks on the financial crisis that has swept the globe.
The pact will pave the way for new rules on to how the EU will tackle the controversial issues of migration and asylum. It was negotiated over the past few months and, on Malta’s insistence, will include a clause that provides for the reallocation of refugees to other EU states who volunteer to accept them.
Important as the pact is, particularly to member states on the EU periphery such as Malta, Italy, Greece and Spain, the summit will focus on the financial crisis and the need for continued concerted action by all the member states to pull Europe out of the danger zone.
"Unfortunately, the discussion on the migration pact, one of the original main goals of the French Presidency, will only be discussed by EU leaders briefly as we need to concentrate on the financial crisis," a senior French diplomat said yesterday.
"The pact has already been discussed and agreed to by EU Justice Ministers a few weeks ago and, thus, the talks by EU leaders should not take long. There are no outstanding issues and it seems the leaders will endorse the new pact."
Under the pact, the 27 EU member states will make a political commitment to share the burden with countries "faced with specific and disproportionate pressures on their national asylum system".
The European Commission will have to launch a new voluntary intra-EU resettlement mechanism to be used if the need arises.
Speaking during a pre-summit press conference yesterday, Commission President José Manuel Barroso focused on the financial situation. Once the credit crisis subsides, Europe must rethink financial regulation and supervisory rules, including for hedge funds and private equity, he said.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel but we are not there yet," he added, after impressive rallies were posted on European stock markets over the last two days following last week’s crash.
"Once we have put financial markets back on their feet, we must ensure that, in the future, they function properly for the benefit of citizens and businesses rather than themselves.
"We must rethink regulatory and supervision rules for financial markets including banks, hedge funds and private equity."
The EU leaders will also discuss the future of the Lisbon Treaty, which is still in abeyance following its rejection by the Irish, and a set of new rules on climate change and energy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions all over the EU and producing cleaner energy by 2020.
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Comments
No matter how charitable we are, we cannot possibly accomodate all of Africa. Do we wait until Malta is swamped and lost to us as a nation, or do we act now BEFORE it is too late?
How long is it going to take for this lame duck government to understand that we're alone in this crisis?
This shows the sheer arrogance of the eu petty dictators who do not take a no for a no whenit comes from the people.
Guaranteed we will not see a third boat - it would be too expensive and dangerous to risk for nothing. Perhaps we will receive a flack from Europe but in the end reasoning would prevail and it would pass. Anyway, it would be worth the sacrifice. After all we already have more than our fill and more will definitely cause indigestion. Part two, start early repatriation of those who are illegaly here, be they white, red or black.
No more playing with our livelihood, tourism, health, education, religion, taxes and above all security.
DO IT NOW, TO DAY - TOMORROW IS LATE
We also have a Minister trying to convince us "in the most unconvincing of manners" that we must wait and see the outcome of the Pact - probably similar to the outcome of Frontex.
Now listen, pact or no pact this is a never ending story and only hard action can mitigate the damage done. Turn back the first two arriving boatloads of these immigrants. Give them food and water, and off they go to where they came from. (cont,d)
Future of Lisbon Treaty? Hello!!? Ireland voted NO!!
Mgr.Calleja states that Malta should accomodate not more than 100 when he and especially the Jesuits community have been having a different view just a couple of weeks ago.
We now have Prof.Frendo - a very learned and respected person- giving a confusing interpretation in Dissett telling us that we may have thousands of these immigrants roaming our streets, nameless, jobless, of unknown nationality, having no fixed address, scantily educated and what not. He clearly said this number is bound to increase from day to day.
We have the Italian Ambassador in the same programme saying that the Pact "could be no pact at all as it is voluntary" and besides, he added the process of burden sharing would have to take into consideration those immigrants who cross land borders. Little did the Ambassador realize that Malta is a small island, already densely populated and could not be compared with big nations(continued)
"The pact states that the 27-nation bloc "does not have the resources to decently receive all the migrants hoping to find a better life" within its territory....
Those states that face the biggest pressure on their asylum systems due to geographical position should be offered solidarity through "better re-allocation" of refugees. This solidarity will be on a voluntary basis, however."
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