Post date: Apr 13, 2011 12:42:50 PM
ROME, April 13, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Immigration / Europe has not been a political union, says Frattini, but it remains an extraordinary opportunity
“Italy has negotiated with Tunisia, but this should really have been Europe's task”. In any case, “without Europe, Italy would be too small”. In Tunis, Barroso supports the Italian line: “Immigration must be addressed as a common challenge, Tunisia must accept the return of illegal migrants”. Maroni: “The agreement must now be implemented in full; Italy has pledged 30 million euros”.
In managing the immigration emergency Europe did not act as a political union. The point was underscored by Minister Frattini in the wake of the EU Home Affairs Council, which saw no concrete measure established against the landings on the coast of Lampedusa. Frattini noted that Italy has engaged in bilateral negotiations with Tunisia, whereas “the Lisbon Treaty says that the negotiations should be conducted by Europe”.
In any case, underscored Frattini, “Europe is and will be for us an extraordinary opportunity. Without Europe, Italy should not just be so small as to be insignificant, it would be unable to tackle today's major challenges. So we'll proceed in Europe”, the Minister remarked, “while seeking to lend weight to a European role that unfortunately has been lacking in this affair”.
Today the EU Commission supported the Italian initiative in Tunisia. At the end of his meeting with the Tunisian Prime Minister, Essebsi, President Barroso underscored that “immigration must be addressed as a common challenge, a shared responsibility”. He asked the Tunisian Government to take “firm, clear action and accept the return of Tunisian citizens who have arrived in Europe illegally”.
Italy wants to see the “full implementation” of the agreement with Tunisia to solve the problem, stated Interior Minister Maroni, reporting to the joint Constitutional and Foreign Affairs Committees at the Chamber of Deputies. The agreement, he explained, envisaged the supply of means of transport. “Four patrol boats are ready to leave in the next few days, in addition to off-the-road vehicles and other equipment worth 30 million euros”. The agreement, he added, “also includes help at sea for vessels in trouble, with a transfer to the nearest port. Which, if the vessel is just outside Tunisian territorial waters, is certainly not Lampedusa”.
As for the outcome of the Luxembourg Council, Maroni explained that “the temporary permits of stay will enable holders to travel freely in the Schengen area. That's the opinion expressed by the State Legal Advisers, Commissioner Malmstrom and other ministers who did not challenge the validity of the document yesterday”. Maroni added that “the ministers said that each state will check whether the conditions are in place for the holder to travel using the permit. We are certain that they are, so the view that the permits would not allow free movement within Schengen is mistaken. I expect the Commission to study immediate measures to allow these people to be admitted to their chosen destinations, or to be repatriated”.
Source: Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs