Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil today presented a first draft of his report on a Common Immigration Policy for Europe to the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) at the European Parliament in Brussels.
The report sets out the European Parliament's position on the guidelines that should be followed by the European Union in constructing a truly common immigration policy in the years to come.
"The momentum to construct a common immigration policy has now reached an unstoppable thrust and the European Union should seize the opportunity to deliver it. Or live to regret it, " Dr Busuttil told the Committee.
He said that in tackling this major challenge, Europe can either adopt policies which transform this challenge into an opportunity for itself, for the immigrants themselves and for their countries of origin, or else mismanage the situation at a high cost for all those concerned.
He also said that since immigration was a common concern, EU countries had to act together to their mutual benefit. Individual countries acting on their own, no matter their size, had struggled to provide an adequate response, quite simply because, by definition, immigration concerned more than one country and therefore countries needed to co-operate to provide a common response.
The report tackles immigration from three dimensions: Prosperity, Solidarity and Security.
"I have drafted the position of the European Parliament on this policy and it is a policy which fully takes into account Malta's interests," Dr Busuttil said after the presentation of his report.
"With this report, I want to make a powerful statement on why I feel that we need a common European immigration policy and where it should go. As a Maltese MEP I feel very proud today. Malta, the smallest EU Member State, is actively involved in shaping a common European policy." he said.
The main points of the report are:
The momentum to construct a common immigration policy has now reached an unstoppable thrust and the European Union should seize the opportunity to deliver it.
More ambition is required for EU countries to put aside national pride and agree to work better and together in this area, if necessary by pooling their sovereignty.
Unless Europe moves urgently ahead in forging a common immigration policy, it risks being overtaken by events. A deadly human tragedy is taking place with hundreds of lives being lost at sea each year and shockingly, this tragedy may be passing by unnoticed.
Legal Migration: A legal route to Europe also means that the scope and incentive for illegal routes is greatly reduced.
Integration: Migrants who wish to integrate must be prepared to respect the identity and values of the EU and its Member States.
Illegal Immigration; Europe has not done enough, collectively, to combat illegal immigration and progress remains slow and insufficient.
Illegal Immigration routes break through the weakest link.
Europe must take a strong leadership in putting an end to illegal immigration, once and for all.
Frontex: The agency has not been sufficiently effective and should be further strengthened both in terms of its financial resources as well as in terms of its capacity to act.
Third country nationals who are illegally staying in the EU territory must leave or be returned.
Solidarity has so far been lacking and all too often Member States that face severe migratory pressures have been left to their own devices. In turn, this has undermined trust in Europe.
The burden-sharing mechanism envisaged in the Immigration Pact should be implemented as soon as possible and the European Commission should launch this mechanism without delay.
The Commission should then come forward with proposals on how the burden-sharing mechanism can be converted into a binding and permanent instrument.
Cooperation with third-countries: All EU agreements with third countries should include chapters on cooperation on immigration.