Migration and the free movement of citizens

16.1.2015

Question for written answer P-000623-15
to the Commission
Rule 130
Tibor Szanyi (S&D)

After participating in the demonstration against the terrorist attacks in Paris, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister, stated that economic immigration was harmful and was putting Europeans in danger and must therefore be stopped. The Czech premier was forthright in recommending that immigrants be expelled. Such statements are not worthy of European leaders and offer no solutions to security policy issues; they merely serve to foment hatred.

They are extremely dangerous, yet the political philosophy behind Hungary's immigration policy is further cause for concern. The words of the Prime Minister of Hungary, which is in any case barely affected by migration, suggest that he would deny the right to settle to people entering the country legally, for example from other Member States. I consider the stigmatisation of immigrants and merging of migration and the principle of free movement to be positively harmful. This policy stance throws into question one of our most important fundamental rights and shows that some people have not understood the essence of the EU as succinctly expressed by its slogan of ‘United in diversity’: a single unit of many different countries, one of the strengths of which is the diversity of its constituent parts.

1. In the light of the anti-migration diatribes of these European leaders, I would like to ask the Commission whether any changes in the EU's immigration policy are likely.

2. What measures can the Commission take to ensure that the principle of the free movement of people is adhered to in the Member States?

3. Have any surveys been carried out on the effects of migration in Europe which show that immigration has a negative impact from the economic, social or any other perspective?