Ewa Klamt (PPE-DE), rapporteur. – (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, ever since 1999, this House has been debating legislative proposals relating to migration without any figures on which to base its decisions, while the scope of immigration policy has become considerably wider. What we need, then, is more and better information if we are to be able to effectively plan, implement, evaluate and monitor political measures. Led by Commissioner Frattini, the Commission has responded to pressure from this House and has submitted a draft regulation on the statistical monitoring of migratory movements, something that is made necessary by the Member States’ failure to supply all the relevant statistical material, or indeed any at all, on the previously voluntary basis.

Data are also collected in different ways, with the consequence that they have, hitherto, not been comparable. This regulation obliges our Member States to provide any and all figures that may be required; it also brings about harmonisation and makes it possible to compare the figures. It was relatively difficult to get the Council to come round to this, whilst all the parties in this House agreed in principle on the need for the regulation.

The general agreement prevailing among the groups meant that this House was able to get its position accepted through the comitology procedure, and the outstanding cooperation of all the shadow rapporteurs, to whom I would like to take this opportunity of expressing my thanks, played a considerable part in enabling us to bring this dossier to a satisfactory conclusion, so thank you all, once more, for that.