SPEECH/01/463
Mr António Vitorino
European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs
On the immigration policy
European Conference on Migration
Brussels, 16 October 2001
The key issue which we have to address in this panel and this is true at both the national and the European level - is how to manage migration so as to achieve orderly movements of people.
No-one today I think questions the need for a European approach to reinforce national policies. Migration is a global phenomena which is set to continue and as such our response must be coordinated, comprehensive and forward-looking.
The Commission set out last November, in its Communication on a Community immigration policy(1), its ideas as to how this could be achieved.
On the one hand, establishing a common normative framework, as already set out in the Amsterdam Treaty, laying down the conditions of entry and stay for immigrants.
On the other hand, setting up an open coordination mechanism for a period of 6 years as a complement to the legal structure, so as to encourage the progressive convergence of national policies in the many important areas which are not covered by European legislation. My proposals for this procedure are set out in detail in a Commission Communication adopted in July this year(2).
Most of the legislation for the implementation of the common legal framework has now been put before the Council. The proposals for family reunification(3) were presented in December 1999. A draft Directive concerning the status of long-term resident third country nationals(4) is under discussion. A draft directive on admission for the purposes of employment(5), was approved by the Commission in July. It will be followed early next year by draft directives concerning the admission of students, and admission for non remunerated activities.
The open method of coordination will ensure that Member States exchange information as to how they implement immigration and asylum legislation in practice and enable them to compare their results. Common interpretations and solutions might thus be found, as well as a sense of the direction for the future common system. All as a result of peer pressure which often in practice works so much better than legislation! We will be able to identify best practice while allowing each Member State to develop its policy in response to national needs and capacities within the common legal framework. We intend to adopt a similar system in the asylum field.
Setting up such a procedure should also enable us to associate the candidate countries in the development of Community policy in these fields. I believe that it is most important now to reinforce cooperation and exchange of information with them and the open coordination method will facilitate this process.
How do I see the open method of coordination working? Let me say that I do not want to establish a cumbersome administrative machinery but a flexible system which can be introduced gradually in response to our needs. I am suggesting that we first establish a series of common European guidelines or objectives which we can all sign up to. In the beginning these may be quite general but gradually we may include some quantifiable targets in order to be able to evaluate progress more closely.
Then Member States will develop national action plans setting out how they intend to put these objectives into practice and report each year on what they have achieved. The Commission will summarise the results of this process by way of a synthesis report. The Council will review this report and decide how the common policy should be taken forward for example by amending the guidelines or by improving their implementation.
The Commission will ensure that the objectives contained in the guidelines are properly integrated with relevant European policy areas such as the European employment strategy and EU external relations and development policies. It will also ensure the evaluation and the monitoring of the common policy and the identification of new areas where European solutions could be useful including those where new European directives are considered to be necessary.
I have suggested that, initially, there might be European immigration guidelines in four areas: the management of migration flows; the admission of economic migrants; partnership with third countries and integration of third country nationals. There must be wide discussion and consultation on the final form of these guidelines but I have already given in my Communication in July some indications as to issues which might be addressed.
With respect to management strategies, I think that there is a real need now for a more comprehensive approach to migration management at national level which takes account of the inter-actions between humanitarian and economic migration flows. We also need to coordinate our efforts to make information available in third countries on the possibilities for legal admission to the EU. And of course we must co-ordinate measures to prevent illegal migration.
We need more transparent procedures for the admission of economic migrants and the draft directive is designed to provide this by establishing a single, flexible framework. We must monitor the way it is implemented in practice, remembering that the key decisions on the number and selection of migrants will continue to be made at national level. Labour migration must remain a complement to the European employment strategy and we must ensure via the open procedure that the immigration guidelines are compatible with our common economic policy.
We must be imaginative and forward-looking in seeking ways to maximise the benefits of migration for third countries. We need to establish a real and effective dialogue with the governments of these countries over the full range of issues which migration raises, whether they be countries of origin or of transit.
The need for comprehensive national integration policies has never been more urgent. The guidelines can help us to focus on key issues and reinforce the exchange of ideas and experiences which we have so that we can learn more from each other.
The Union needs now, more than ever, common policies on immigration and asylum. Based on the decisions taken by the European Council in Tampere in October 1999, on this very day just two years ago, the Commission has set out a coherent package of proposals to promote greater convergence of policies so as to strengthen our response to migration pressures. We now need the political will and commitment of all the Member States and of third countries to take our policies forward.
I am confident that the open coordination method will be a very effective instrument to enable us to to this and to help us to realise our overall goal of managing migration better - in the interests not only of the Union but also of third countries and of the migrants themselves.
(1) COM(2000)757 of 22 November 2000
(2) COM(2001)387 of 11 July 2001
(3) COM(2000)624 of 10 October 2000
(4) COM(2001)127 of 13 March 2001
(5) COM(2001)386 of 11 July 2001