Reallocation pilot project

Meeting in Brussels last week, the European Council supported the establishment of an EU pilot project for the reallocation of immigrants from Malta to other EU countries.

The conclusions state:

"The European Council calls for the coordination of voluntary measures for internal reallocation of beneficiaries of international protection present in the member states exposed to specific and disproportionate pressures and highly vulnerable persons.

"It welcomes the intention of the Commission to take initiatives in this respect, starting with a pilot project for Malta."

These conclusions are important because they give a clear mandate to the European Commission to deliver an EU-wide pilot project that will enable the transfer of immigrants from Malta to other EU countries. As a result, burden sharing will no longer remain a Maltese problem; it will become an EU responsibility.

It is important to specify that we are here referring to migrants who benefit from international protection, that is to say, those holding refugee status or humanitarian protection and not illegal immigrants who should be returned. The fact that this first "intra-EU" re-allocation project will concern Malta specifically is a tribute to our country's persistence in striving for EU support in this sensitive area. This is not to say that all resistance to "burden-sharing" has been overcome. But it has certainly been overcome to a sufficient extent as to get all 27 EU countries to accept the setting up of a pilot project specifically for Malta.

The first attempt at setting up a burden-sharing mechanism came two years ago when the world was shocked to see a number of immigrants left hanging for their lives on to a tuna pen being towed by a Maltese tugboat in the Libyan search and rescue area. In the wake of this incident, in June 2007, the Maltese government submitted the first burden-sharing proposal to the EU.

It was a simple proposal suggesting that all immigrants saved in such situations would be "shared among EU member states on a strictly proportional basis and according to a pre-accepted system" among all EU countries.

At the time, this proposal was met with a deafening silence.

The second attempt was made in June last year when, along with three other MEPs, from Spain, Greece and Cyprus, I tabled a proposal for the adoption of a pilot project that would set up an "intra-EU solidarity mechanism". This mechanism would enable the internal reallocation of immigrants arriving in an EU country, which faces a burden disproportionate to other EU countries.

Yet, even last year, the immediate response from the European Commission was muted and it expressed reluctance to take up our proposal, fearing this would not find sufficient political support.

The third - and successful - attempt came in the first week of June this year when, finally, the Commission itself took the plunge and proposed a pilot project to test the burden-sharing mechanism, and it is its proposal that was endorsed last week by the European Council.

So what led to a shift in the position of the European Commission and the European Council?

Three things, I would say.

First, in October last year, the European Immigration and Asylum Pact was adopted, including, for the first time, a reference to a burden-sharing commitment inserted thanks to the strong insistence of the Maltese government.

The pact constituted merely a political declaration by EU leaders but it still managed to increase the momentum in favour of common EU action on immigration to unprecedented levels, laying down a check-list of actions that EU countries should pursue together.

Secondly, in April this year, Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot, responsible for the immigration dossier, visited Malta and witnessed Malta's plight at close range. He has since acted swiftly to propose the setting up of a pilot project on burden-sharing and there is little doubt that his visit to Malta made a great difference.

Thirdly, on May 7 this year, the European Parliament endorsed the review of the so-called Dublin Regulation at first reading and went even further. On the basis of a proposal I tabled along with a number of other MEPs, the Parliament supported the establishment of a mandatory (as against voluntary) burden-sharing mechanism by the end of 2011. So there is no doubt as to where the European Parliament wants to go.

In the meantime, a number of countries have started to take a number of migrants from Malta on a voluntary basis. The United States and France have distinguished themselves in this regard and are leading by example. I hope their example can stimulate other countries to emulate them. The pilot project will put precisely this kind of solidarity to the test.

Readers who would like to ask questions to be answered in this column can send an e-mail, identifying themselves, to contact@simonbusuttil.eu or through www.simonbusuttil.eu.

Dr Busuttil is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.