Marinho (PSE). – (PT) Mr President, in reality, it is the Council alone that should be blamed for the delay in adopting fundamental measures in the field of asylum and immigration. We recall the proposal for a directive on granting refugee status, which should have been approved well before the end of 2003, but this is not, unfortunately, an isolated case. We must also talk about the general aim of putting the conditions in place for an ordered entry into the European Union for those who are without international protection, but the fact is that another important directive on the procedures that the Member States should implement to grant refugee status ultimately fell by the wayside.

The Justice and Home Affairs Council of 27 and 28 November abandoned its quest for a political agreement on these two pieces of legislation that are crucial to the first phase of harmonising the common asylum system, and decided to postpone their adoption until the end of 2004. Fortunately, not everything has ended in inertia or deadlock. We must praise the attitude of the Commission and the commitment of Commissioner Vitorino, which were demonstrated in the proposal for a regulation establishing a programme of technical and financial assistance to third countries in the field of migration and asylum, an instrument that will enable us to address the needs felt by these countries in their efforts to ensure that migration flows are better managed.

Nor must we overlook the fact that the Draft Constitution of the European Convention provides for a genuine common European asylum system and an immigration policy, which will enable us to abandon the current system of minimum rules in which Member States retain a large part of their national systems.

Unfortunately, even this crucial historical area is compromised, and so we can only conclude that 2003 was a year in which there was a keen awareness of the needs, and of providing the appropriate means, areas in which the Commission and Parliament did what was asked of them. It was, however, also a time that suffered from the hypocrisy, hesitation and deadlock that national strategy and ideological prejudice impose on the Council’s decision-making ability.