The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its resolution of 15 January 2004 on the Communication from the Commission on immigration, integration and employment(1), its resolution of 9 June 2005 on the links between legal and illegal migration and integration of migrants and its resolution of 6 July 2006 on the integration of immigrants in the European Union,

–  having regard to the Council Decision of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty (2004/972/EC),

–  having regard to Article 67 of the EC Treaty,

–  having regard to the conclusions of the European Councils held in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, in Laeken on 14 and 15 December 2001, in Seville on 21 and 22 June 2002 and in Thessaloniki on 19 and 20 June 2003,

–  having regard to the conclusions of the European Council held in Brussels on 4 and 5 November 2004 and the Hague Programme annexed thereto,

–  having regard to the JHA Council held in Tampere on 20-22 September 2006,

–  having regard to the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union(2), and in particular Articles 18, 20, 21 and 22 thereof,

–  having regard to the Treaty of Amsterdam, which confers on the Community powers and responsibilities in the area of immigration, and Article 63 of the EC Treaty,

–  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas, despite the Tampere and Hague programmes, the European Union still has no genuine common policy on immigration,

B.  whereas several Member States situated on the EU’s southern external borders are facing a humanitarian emergency on account of a massive influx of immigrants, particularly during summer 2006,

C.  whereas the Euro-African Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development held in Rabat on 10 and 11 July 2006 adopted a declaration and action plan,

D.  whereas the Council Decision of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the (codecision) procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty (2004/972/EC) does not apply to legal immigration,

E.  whereas Article 67 of the EC Treaty provides for a transitional clause allowing for a change to codecision and qualified majority voting for areas under the first pillar, and in particular immigration,

1.  Deplores the lack of an integrated common European Union policy on immigration;

2.  Calls on the Council to remove all obstacles to the creation of a European asylum system by 2010;

3.  Considers that a European immigration policy cannot limit itself to strengthening the EU’s external borders and combating illegal immigration, but that the EU must adopt a cross‑cutting approach opening the way to legal immigration, integrating migrants into society in their destination countries and making possible the codevelopment of their countries of origin in order to tackle the underlying causes of migration;

4.  Recalls the need for a Community immigration and asylum policy founded on opening channels of legal immigration and on defining common rules to protect the fundamental rights of immigrants and of asylum seekers in the EU, as agreed by the Tampere European Council in 1999 and confirmed in the Hague Programme;

5.  Welcomes the common wish of Member States to step up cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration and human trafficking and recalls the need to adopt and apply legislative measures aimed at strengthening cooperation on police and judicial matters and sharing information between the relevant authorities, which too often are blocked within the Council;

6.  Recognises the difficulties faced by several Member States, such as Malta, Italy, Greece and Spain, on account of migratory pressure and recalls that European immigration policy must be founded on the principle of sharing costs and responsibilities between Member States;

7.  Welcomes the fact that teams of experts and patrols have been set up by Frontex at the EU’s sea borders, particularly on the Canary Islands and Malta; recalls that only five Member States have contributed to these missions and calls on the Member States to step up cooperation in this area and to provide Frontex with more resources in order that it might be able to increase the scope and the effectiveness of the missions undertaken;

8.  Warns against the dangers of the externalisation of the management of the EU’s external borders and hopes for better cooperation with the countries of origin and transit countries founded above all on respect for fundamental rights, particularly rights of asylum and of non‑refoulement, and on the shared interests of the EU and of countries of origin and transit countries;

9.  Calls for an increase in payments for actions by NGOs which provide crucial emergency aid on the ground;

10.  Reaffirms the importance of diplomatic and political action by the EU aimed at creating a political partnership with countries of origin and transit countries of the migratory flows and at concluding agreements covering readmission policies, support for democratic processes and for institution building and codevelopment measures;

11.  Notes the Declaration and the Action Plan adopted in Rabat on 11 July 2006 and calls on the Council to state how this Action Plan will be implemented;

12.  Recalls that a coherent European immigration policy must be accompanied by a European integration policy providing for, among other things, proper integration into the labour market, the right to education and training, access to social and health-care services as well as participation by immigrants in social, cultural and political life;

13.  Welcomes the decision of the Council allowing codecision and qualified majority voting to be applied in the areas of asylum and combating illegal immigration, and calls on the Member States to lift their national veto, particularly in the area of legal immigration, through the urgent adoption of the transitional clause provided for in Article 67 of the EC Treaty;

14.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and to the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ C 92 E, 16.4.2005, p. 390. (2) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.