A seven-point European plan to combat illegal immigration was Minister Frattini’s proposal at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Luxembourg. Frattini called for “an effective common European framework to tackle immigration in the Mediterranean, the burden of which cannot be borne solely by the front-line countries”.
As proposed by Italy – which with Malta has called for discussion by the EU Foreign Ministers during the Luxembourg summit – the Commission should draw up the plan before the end of its mandate.
The plan is intended to achieve the following objectives:
1. Agreed, binding mechanisms at the Community level on search and rescue operations for migrants at sea to avoid discrepancies in interpreting international law
2. Selection of criteria to share out responsibility for receiving migrants intercepted at sea amongst member states
3. Promotion of a European network of reception centres
4. Renewed European re-admission policy with concrete incentives for non-EU countries in terms of technical assistance and legal migration
5. Promotion of the widest possible involvement of non-EU countries in the joint patrols conducted by Frontex, the border security agency. This would enable the agency to perform in full its mission of coordinating the control and management of the EU’s external borders and tackling crisis situations.
6. Renewed cooperation with Libya in immigration matters by creating a system to control Libya’s southern borders. On this point, Italy – which is willing to cover half the costs – has asked the EU to finance the remainder and begin the necessary technical assessments as soon as possible.
7. A central place for migration issues in the negotiations to establish an EU-Libya Framework Agreement, bearing in mind the strategic importance of following a common pathway in this sector also.