Frattini ups pressure on EU leaders over immigration

The European Commission is to put pressure on EU leaders meeting next week to sign off on proposals to deal with the expected wave of immigrants next year.

Franco Frattini, commissioner for justice, freedom and security, wants the European Council (14-15 December) to agree to more patrols in the Mediterranean and Atlantic by Frontex, the EU’s border agency, and to give the agency permanent equipment such as boats and helicopters so that it can react quickly to sudden immigration influxes.

He also wants leaders to agree to set up expert teams to help African states deal with illegal migration and to help EU member states process asylum applications during influxes. The commissioner will push, in addition, for a plan for legal migration between Africa and the EU.

Frattini said interior ministers meeting in Brussels this week (5 December) gave a positive response to his proposals and that it was "now up to the Council to translate [it] immediately into agreement".

Spain, the country which received the most immigrants last summer, welcomed the proposals but wants a permanent Frontex presence at sea to help spot immigrants on their way to Europe. The first Frontex patrol began in September off the Canary Islands but involved only two ships and two helicopters from three EU member states and was originally scheduled for just six weeks. "Frontex is not and cannot be on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast for just a few months of the year…it’s going to have to be there for a lot longer," said Spain’s Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba.

Frattini said Frontex would also be boosted by an increase in its budget, which will next year reach €33 million, an increase from this year’s €12m.

Draft conclusions for next week’s summit show leaders will agree to a permanent coastal patrol network and a European surveillance system for the southern sea borders. The conclusions say Frontex will be strengthened "by ensuring adequate resources and their effective use, establishing procedures for emergency situations, strengthening operational means". Improving co-operation on repatriation of illegal immigrants will also be made a priority by leaders while "legal migration will be better incorporated into the Union’s external policies", according to the conclusions.

The Commission will also be seeking approval for its idea for "mobility packages" which would involve matching jobs in Europe with skilled workers from Africa who would return to their home countries after a period of time.

Spain is already leading the way on this with Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during a visit to Senegal this week promising to help set up a centre in Senegal for identifying and registering workers who wish to travel to Spain and to encourage Spanish companies to give contracts to Senegalese workers.

But many member states are expected to resist any attempts to hand powers on legal migration over to the EU, especially on quotas and sources of labour.

The European Commission is to put pressure on EU leaders meeting next week to sign off on proposals to deal with the expected wave of immigrants next year.

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