Action on illegal immigration pre-requisite to policy on legal migration - Busuttil

An effective European policy on illegal immigration is a pre-requisite for a policy on legal migration, MEP Simon Busuttil said during a debate in the European Parliament’s plenary session meeting in Strasbourg this morning.

The chamber was debating two new laws which would enable third-country nationals to access the EU’s labour market; a law establishing a so-called “Blue Card” and a law establishing a “Single Application” for a residence and work permit for immigrants entering Europe legally.

Dr Busuttil said that this was the first time that the EU was opening a window to legal migration, enabling non-EU workers to find a job in the EU on the basis of a common European permit, known as the “Blue Card”. This was acceptable, he noted, provided that EU countries retained the right to determine how many foreign workers they required in their own territory and provided also that EU workers were guaranteed a preference over non-EU workers.

But Dr Busuttil cautioned that the EU could not advance a credible policy on legal migration unless it first showed that it could be effective on illegal immigration.

“People cannot trust Europe on legal migration unless we demonstrate that we can act effectively on illegal immigration.” he warned.