The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2001) 387 – C5&nbhy;0337/2002),

–   having regard to the Commission Communication (COM(2002) 703 – C5-0233/2003),

–   having regard to Article 13 of the EC Treaty,

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

–   having regard to the conclusions of the Tampere European Council of 15 and 16 October 1999,

–   having regard to the conclusions of the Laeken European Council of 14 and 15 December 2001 and the Seville European Council of 21 and 22 June 2002,

–   having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, with particular reference to Articles 18, 21 and 22 thereof,

–   having regard to the Commission Green Paper on a Community return policy on illegal residents (COM(2002) 175),

–   having regard to the opinion of 21 March 2002 of the Economic and Social Committee on immigration, integration and the role of civil society organisations(1) and the conclusions of the conference of 9 and 10 September 2002 on "Immigration: the role of civil society in integration",

–   having regard to the Commission's decision to draw up a communication on immigration, integration and employment for submission to the European Council at its meeting in Thessaloniki on 20 June 2003 (COM(2003) 336),

–   having regard to the proposals for directives, and the European Parliament positions adopted thereon, on: the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of paid employment and self-employed economic activities (position of 12 February 2003)(2); the right to family reunification (position of 9 April 2003)(3); the status of third-country nationals who are long-term residents (position of 5 February 2002)(4); and the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, vocational training or voluntary service (position of 3 June 2003)(5),

–   having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Citizens" Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Development and Cooperation, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committee on Women's Rights and Equal Opportunities and the Committee on Petitions (A5&nbhy;0224/2003),

A.   whereas the Treaty of Amsterdam confers on the Community competences in the spheres of asylum and immigration and provides that the Council shall adopt specific measures within five years of the Treaty's entry into force,

B.   whereas within the context of EU freedom of movement and the single market, a common approach must be taken to immigration given that the Member States are confronted with similar and inter-related problems that cannot be solved at national level and therefore require Community coordination, as decided by the Tampere European Council,

C.   whereas following the Tampere European Council no significant decisions have been taken within the Council on immigration policy, and whereas the timetable put forward by the Commission is not being applied, and nor is that provided for by the Seville European Council,

D.   whereas in the period since the Tampere European Council (which has included the Seville European Council), the Commission and the European Parliament have made significant efforts to ensure implementation of its conclusions, i.e. partnership with countries of origin, Community asylum system, fair treatment of third country nationals, more efficient management of migration flows and measures to tackle the problem of illegal immigration,

E.   whereas the main strands of immigration policy identified by the Tampere European Council (partnership with countries of origin, a common European asylum system, fair treatment of third-country nationals and management of migration flows) remain valid today; whereas there is an urgent need for them to be developed on the basis of the legislative framework provided for in Articles 61 to 69 of the Treaty, in connection with which the Commission has already presented proposals,

F.   whereas the European Parliament should be involved in the definition of the four elements of the open method of coordination in connection with which guidelines have been put forward by the Commission – management of migration flows, admission of economic migrants, partnership with third countries and integration of third-country nationals – and which have been clearly identified by the European Parliament as requiring urgent action at European level,

G.   whereas two of these elements have been further developed in the Communication on integrating migration issues in the European union's relations with third countries and in the communications, scheduled to be submitted to the Thessaloniki European Council on 20 June 2003, on immigration, immigration and employment and on the development of a common policy on illegal immigration, smuggling and trafficking of human beings, external borders and the return of illegal residents,

H.   whereas action to combat trafficking in human beings and the sexual exploitation of women and children must necessarily constitute a further key element,

I.   whereas, in most cases, irregular residence is the result of people who entered legally into the territory of the Union losing their authorisation,

J.   whereas only limited Community financial resources are available, and whereas these resources should be equitably distributed among the various component strands of European immigration policy, on the basis of the priorities laid down in Tampere,

K.   whereas since the Commission communication on "a European development policy", on which Parliament delivered a favourable opinion, a general strategy has been defined, encompassing the various aspects of development policy – from the social to the environmental – with global sustainable development as its aim,

L.   whereas the issue of migration is taking on strategic importance and will play a vital role – for better or for worse – in determining the future impact of globalisation,

M.   whereas the destination of more than 90% of immigrants in the world is not European Union territory but the territories of countries close to the immigrants" places of origin,

Coordination of European immigration policy methods and instruments

1.  Regrets that the Council has yet to adopt the legislative instruments put forward by the Commission and calls on it to take up a position on the Commission's communications at the earliest opportunity;

2.  Welcomes the Commission's attempts to speed up the work on migration-related issues by putting forward additional measures, and notes that, with the submission of the communication on third-country immigration and the forthcoming adoption of the communication on integration, the Commission will, by means of six successive communications, have delivered the integrated approach to immigration matters established in Tampere:

3.  Stresses that an open method for the coordination of national policies cannot under any circumstances take the place of the legislative measures called for, and that the method could prove difficult to introduce if it were to be misused for the purpose of further delaying the legislative process or concealing the fact that deadlock has been reached;

4.  Welcomes the Commission's proposal to put in place:

5.  Calls on the Commission to see that the statistical data which it deems crucial for the effective monitoring and evaluation of the common immigration policy are gender segregated,

6.  Expresses the hope that the European Convention will take account of the many proposals regarding immigration and asylum put forward by Parliament, as reflected in its resolution of 27 March 2003(6) on the progress in 2002 in implementing an area of Freedom, Security and Justice, with particular reference to the proposals on making codecision and qualified majority voting within the Council the general rule with a view to ending the current decision-making stalemate within the Council;

Management of migration flows

7.  Calls on the Council to maintain a global and integrated approach which takes into account the various elements needed for the successful management of migration flows, as envisaged at Tampere and developed by the Commission;

8.  Bearing in mind that Member States are responsible for determining the number of third country nationals on their territories, supports the idea of establishing global estimates that also take into account people whose residence has been authorised on grounds other than that of economic activity, such as refugees and those entering for family reunification purposes, including minors of working age, who must be ensured access to the labour market;

9.  Stresses that in dialogue with third countries it must always be borne in mind that migration flows are of interest to both sides and need to be rationalised, not blocked;

10.  Is concerned at the "brain drain" from developing countries;

11.  Member States should periodically draw up studies and inform the Commission of the hidden labour market, its impact on national economic activity and the presence of immigrants on this market, given that a real prospect of finding a job unquestionably serves as a incentive for illegal immigration;

12.  Welcomes the adoption on 19 July 2002 of Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA on combating trafficking in human beings(7) and the Brussels Declaration adopted by the Council on 8 May 2003 and calls on the Commission to monitor their transposition into national law by the Member States;

13.  Calls on the Member States to focus not only on combating trafficking in human beings and on border controls but also on the victims of such trafficking, most of whom are victims of sexual exploitation, and calls in this context for the adoption of the proposal for a Council Directive on the short-term residence permit issued to victims of action to facilitate illegal immigration or trafficking in human beings who cooperate with the competent authorities(8);

14.  Calls for an assessment to be conducted of the outcome of the external border control programmes put in place by the Council, and for the findings to be communicated to Parliament;

15.  Calls for an open discussion to be held on the various proposals put forward by the Commission in its abovementioned Green Paper on a Community return policy, with particular attention being paid to the assisted return measures;

Admission of economic migrants

16.  Urges the Council to adopt the directive on the conditions for entering the EU for employment purposes, taking due account of the position of Parliament, as a first and necessary step towards ensuring simple and transparent procedures for legal entry into the EU;

17.  Draws attention to the fact that an ageing population and a lack of low-skilled and very highly-skilled workers are common features of all the Member States, which use immigration as a remedy against this situation;

18.  Points out that the Member States retain responsibility for selecting and establishing the number of economic immigrants required to cover national labour market needs;

19.  Considers it essential to involve local and regional authorities in this process;

20.  Stresses that coherence between Community policy on immigration and other Union policies, in particular those relating to employment and social inclusion, is essential; calls for account to be taken of the issue of immigrants when laying down the Employment Guidelines and in National Action Plans, paying particular attention to equal opportunities but without undermining efforts in favour of groups of workers already employed in the Member States; points also to the importance of encompassing the issue of immigrants within the new National Action Plans for social inclusion;

21.  Calls on the Commission to give details of the specific ways in which the process of consultation with interested parties is to be organised, taking account of the role and specific responsibilities of the social partners for issues relating to the employment market and identifying the relevant, representative European organisations in the light of the role and responsibilities of each interested party; urges likewise that local and regional authorities be taken into consideration in a manner commensurate with their responsibilities in the individual Member States.

22.  Calls for the establishment of a Eures network specific to the EU labour market, the availability of which would enable countries of origin to gain access to information;

23.  Takes the view that immigrants working in the hidden economy should be treated in the same way as Member State nationals vis-à-vis the handling of complaints about illegal working;

24.  Takes the view that the Member States should take urgent steps to shed light on illegal employment, especially in the domestic help sector, in which, according to its resolution of 30 November 2000 on regulating domestic help(9), a very large number of female migrant workers are employed; a new solution must be found which permits families employing such workers to draw up a legal employment contract entitling them to social security cover;

Integration of third-country nationals

25.  Considers that full integration of migrants in host countries is a key factor in measuring the success of European immigration policy;

26.  Considers that various actions have been developed in the Member States to address the increasing pluralism of present-day societies and that the experience acquired in this area, in which there have been both successes and failures, is an asset that the Commission should harness, evaluate and make available to the Member States, regional and local authorities and other players involved;

27.  Declares that family reunification is an inalienable right recognised by international conventions; accordingly urges the Council to adopt the relevant directive, taking account of Parliament's opinion;

28.  Considers that the Union's development cooperation policy is a useful tool in immigration policies, which must concentrate on tackling the reasons for immigration and at the same time harness what migration has to offer for the purposes of co-development;

29.  Considers the adoption of the directive on long-term residents to be essential with a view to guaranteeing the integration of third-country nationals and endorses the idea, put forward by the Commission and the Economic and Social Committee, of creating a civic citizenship enabling third-country nationals legally resident in the European Union to enjoy a status conferring on them economic, social and political rights and duties, including the right to vote in local and European elections;

30.  Calls on the Commission to ensure that directives on fighting discrimination on grounds of origin and discrimination at work are implemented and enforced;

31.  Calls on the Commission to ensure that detailed and practical action is taken on the integration policy set out in the abovementioned Communication on immigration, integration and employment by determining which Community programmes may be used to develop the integration policy and guaranteeing the exchange of information and good practices between Member States;

32.  Considers that Member States should not misuse integration policy as a way of rendering immigration impossible in practice; calls on Member States not to impose integration tests and language requirements which immigrants are required to comply with before they enter a Member State;

33.  Believes that an active policy of integration should include the following:

34.  Considers that, in the above-mentioned areas, programmes should be established for initial reception of persons arriving in an EU Member State;

35.  Considers that civil servants working in administrative services dealing with third-country nationals, border and security officials, social, health and education staff and other personnel involved in the areas concerned should be given adequate training and resources to ensure proper initial reception and to enable them to carry out their duties in a pluralistic society;

36.  Considers that at all levels of the civil service and administrative services dealing with third country nationals, border and security officials, social, health and education staff and other personnel involved in the areas concerned, an effective anti-corruption policy and appropriate instruments are very much needed;

37.  Considers that Community programmes and measures should take due account of the need to provide training for reception and the realities of a pluralistic society, and that cooperation is required between immigration policies - both European and national - and employment policy, social cohesion and integration policy and anti-discrimination policy;

38.  Stresses the huge importance of gender mainstreaming in all policy areas of the EU and calls for a much higher recognition of the specific and often devastating problems which women face when immigrating and integrating into a foreign country;

39.  Welcomes the Commission proposal concerning the financing of pilot projects relating to integration;

40.  Welcomes the proposal made by the Convention Praesidium to create a specific legal basis for the integration of third-country nationals legally resident in the European Union;

Partnership with third countries

41.  Considers that the Union should efficiently integrate the joint management of migration flows in its relations with third countries and that the association agreements should reflect the commitment of both parties to accepting their responsibilities in the field of border controls and the management of migration flows, bearing in mind the needs of the countries of origin and transit and respect for the rights of immigrants in the transit and host countries;

42.  Considers that the fight against illegal immigration and border checks are only one aspect of EU policy towards third countries, to which should be added an active co-development for the development of countries of origin, partly aimed at keeping the adverse effects of emigration to a minimum;

43.  Considers that readmission agreements represent one aspect of EU external policy and that the EU Member States should accept their obligations with a view to improved management of migration flows, but must not form the Union's sole priority as regards relations with countries of origin in the migration context; takes the view that factors which encourage unwanted emigration must be examined;

44.  Considers that cooperation with third countries should include measures to support the establishment of positive trends both for countries of origin and transit and host countries, and that this means promoting co-development projects and coordinated action in the field of education and training, examining economic and other opportunities linked to people's mobility, and assisted return policies; considers that co-development policies should remain one of the objectives of budget line B7-667 and of EU external action programmes;

45.  Considers that cooperation should include measures to develop and strengthen anti-corruption policies in countries of origin as well as host countries;

46.  Calls for mechanisms stepping up support for refugee host countries to be implemented, so as to avoid divisions appearing in the economic and social fabric and thus protect current development processes in those countries;

47.  Stresses the need to take into account, along the lines mentioned by the Commission, the enormous financial flows which the money sent home by immigrants constitutes, and calls on the Commission to take the initiative in order to ensure that these earnings can be sent back legally cheaply and easily and in order to harness these private financial resources for co-development initiatives, ensuring control by employers and the recipients of the earnings, in accordance with the conclusions of the Monterrey Conference;

48.  Welcomes the launch of the regional cooperation programmes in the fields of justice and internal affairs under the MEDA and TACIS programmes and welcomes the progress made in this field in the ASEM; regrets, however, that political dialogue on immigration in the context of EU/Latin America relations has not started and hence calls on the Council and the Commission to start immediately preparing a dialogue on this subject in the context of European-Latin American relations;

49.  Reiterates the need to improve the systems for collecting and exchanging statistical data on migration and calls for consideration of certain initiatives such as the creation of migration monitoring services, the establishment of port networks or encouraging the creation of "emigration institutes" in the countries of origin and transit;

50.  Notes that the lack of agreements on the transfer and guarantee of social rights, such as pension entitlements, has the lasting effect of restricting the scope for third country nationals to plan their lives, and calls on the Commission to include this subject in negotiations on cooperation agreements with third countries;

51.  Notes that fear of forfeiting residence rights and social rights prevents many immigrants from third countries from embarking on a new life in their countries of origin; calls on the Commission, therefore, to make it possible for immigrants with firm residence status to return;

52.  Considers that there is at present no basis for expulsions being financed from the Community budget and that, by virtue of the principle of subsidiarity, the various agreements may be financed from national budgets in the absence of a basis justifying the added value of EU funding;

53.  Considers also that the European Refugee Fund is not the suitable means of financing the forced repatriation of immigrants and refugees, in view of the actual nature of the fund, which only provides for reception and integration measures and the funding of voluntary return agreements;

o
o   o

54.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the parliaments of the Member States and the candidate countries.

(1) CES 365/2002. (2) P5_TA(2003)0050. (3) P5_TA(2003)0179. (4) OJ C 248 E, 21.11.2002, p. 102. (5) P5_TA(2003)0235. (6) P5_TA(2003)0126. (7) OJ L 203, 1.8.2002, p. 1. (8) OJ C 126 E, 28.5.2002, p. 393. (9) OJ C 228, 13.8.2001, p. 193.