By Martin Banks - 30th June 2008
Parliament's newly appointed rapporteur on immigration policy Simon Busuttil has welcomed French proposals to stem the flow of illegal migrants heading to the EU.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country took over the EU presidency on Tuesday, aims to get other member states to agree to toughening rules on illegal immigration and increasing legal migration for categories such as skilled workers.
He is also pushing for an end to mass legalisation of immigrants as has happened in Spain and Italy in recent years.
The move comes in the wake of a communication just published by the commission which calls for a common immigration policy for the EU27.
Speaking to this website on Tuesday, Busuttil said he welcomed the French plans on immigration.
He said, “I see this as a positive move and comes at just the right time because France brings a lot of experience of dealing with the issue of illegal immigration.
“Sarkozy's plans strike the right balance between combating illegal immigration and opening up new routes to legal migration.
“France has come forward with a set of thought-provoking proposals which I hope will be taken on board.”
The Maltese centre right MEP, recently appointed rapporteur on the EU common immigration policy, said he expects parliament will be in a position to present its response to the commission’s plans early next year.
He added, “I have to say that the EU will not be taken seriously on this issue unless it acts decisively to tackle illegal immigration, something which, to date, it has failed to do.”
An example of this failure, he says, are the “hundreds” of boat people who regularly flock from north Africa to countries like Malta, Italy and Greece, many of them being killed in the process.
“In the last few months alone, Malta has registered a 36 per cent increase in the number of boat people arriving from Africa,” he said.
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