Claude Moraes, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, in taking this opportunity to speak on behalf of the S&D shadow, Ms Guillaume, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Díaz de Mera García Consuegra, for having actively consulted all the shadows in his usual way and successfully pushed forward the negotiations with the Council.

Whereas the Commission proposal consists of mostly technical modifications, this report has, in my view, allowed for a better understanding and consideration of the complexity and scope of the liaison officers’ activities. Immigration Liaison Officers (ILOs) are indeed engaged in quite complex and opaque activities. It is therefore absolutely necessary – for reasons of transparency – to further a better exchange of information with the European Parliament, on the one hand, and organisations such as the UNHCR and the Asylum Support Office, on the other. It is also fundamental to include and promote the human rights orientated approach to the mission of ILOs, which the Commissioner has just mentioned. It is surely needless to recall that, in the context of addressing mixed migratory movements, the posting of ILOs in third countries may raise several concerns from a fundamental rights perspective, in particular, regarding the right of individuals to leave a country, including their own, and the right of asylum seekers to flee and find protection from persecution.

Finally, on the heated debate concerning terminology, we have in the explanatory memorandum a satisfactory compromise for what seems to be an endless debate. I will finish by thanking Mr Díaz de Mera García Consuegra and saying that our group will fully support his report.