EU

Immigration pact unveiled

Article published on the 2008-07-08 Latest update 2008-07-10 15:10 TU

French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux (R), EU commissioner Jacques Barrot (C), Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, in Cannes Monday.
(Photo: AFP)

At the first meeting of European Union leaders since France took over the rotating EU presidency, a pact on immigration was tentatively endorsed. It proposes cherry-picking immigrants with useful skills and aims to tighten the EU's border control. Paris, which put the question at the top of its list of priorities, hopes it will be approved at a summit of all 27 member-states in October.

Before the meeting, France's Immigration and National Identity Minister Brice Hortefeux has been visiting European capitals to drum up support for the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

His efforts were rewarded at the informal meeting in the Riviera resort of Cannes, although he had been forced to drop a proposal for an "obligatory integration contract", which would have defined how immigrants should behave, largely because of Spanish opposition.

Among other measures, the contract would have legally obliged new arrivals to learn the language of the country in which they were to live.

The agreement discourages countries from handing out entry permits en masse, as Spain and Italy have done recently and as France has done under previous governments.

It will also tighten up border controls, giving rise to charges of a desire to build a "fortress Europe", while helping development in countries with high emigration rates.

But, with many countries needing immigrant labour in key sectors of their economies, the pact provides for selective admission of workers with skills that Europe needs.

"The critics of this immigration pact are saying that it doesn’t respect human rights, that people should be able to pick where they go and how they immigrate and that this is putting limits," said Sarah Elzas who reported from Cannes for RFI.

"But, at the same time, if you think of Europe as an entity trying to look out for its own needs, this is the sort of perfect pact. They’re saying, ‘Here’s what we need, here’s what our labour market needs, we’ll pick and choose throughout the countries of the world and decide who gets to come and do what jobs’.”

According to another proposal, asylum-seekers will be increasingly obliged to apply for entry from outside Europe, a move which critics say reduces their chances of escaping repression.

The EU, which estimates that there are six million immigrants without permits within its borders, recently drafted a "return directive" which allowed would-be immigrants to be detained for up to 18 months and has plans for a "blue card" scheme, similar to the US's green card.