New Commissioner suggests Med. convention to regulate immigration

Rocco Buttiglione, the European Union's Commissioner-designate for Justice, Freedom and Security, has suggested the holding of a Mediterranean Convention to discuss regulating immigration, with the cooperation of immigrants' countries of origin, transit countries and destination countries within the EU.

Mr Buttiglione, Italy's Minister for European Affairs, first mentioned the idea during a meeting he had in Brussels with the president-designate of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso.

Mr Buttiglione said that immigration agreements with some of the EU's neighbours were already "working well" and that building upon these agreements was the right and humane way to deal with immigration, noting that many people who risked their life at sea could come to Europe legally, but were not aware of it.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has welcomed the policies of EU member states that are aimed at ending the precarious situation of illegal immigrants. The Commission said in a memo that the arrival of vessels full of illegal immigrants in southern European ports underlined the need to reinforce EU solidarity and strengthen the common EU policies in the area of immigration and asylum.

The Commission said that in the future, cooperation between member states could be stepped up through the European Border Control Agency (foreseen for the beginning of 2005) and the Solidarity Clause to be included in the European constitution.

The memo issued by the Commission explained that EU policy was focused on migration management and addressed the issue of illegal migration via the sea as part of a package of measures concerning legal and illegal migration, increasing their effectiveness by working in partnership with the countries of origin and transit.

The objective, it said, was to improve control of the EU's frontiers, in particular through enhanced cooperation and coordination between the member states, while ensuring that there were clear legal channels for the admission of the economic migrants which Europe needed and channels for asylum for those who needed protection.

It said the EU was also working on the creation of a common asylum policy and on a common return and re-admission policy. The Commission believes that those migrants, who do not or no longer have the right to stay legally in the EU, should be returned to their country of origin.

The Commission said it was negotiating readmission agreements with a number of countries, including Morocco, to be concluded soon, and Algeria to facilitate the return of such people to their country of origin or transit. Apart from these initiatives the EU stressed that it was trying to develop partnerships with third countries as many of these migrants originated in Africa.

The Dutch European Union presidency has promised to put the problem of illegal immigration on the agenda of the next EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers Council meeting to be held at the end of September.