http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=3106

Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 16:35
Subject: /EU-Justice/Immigration/

2ND ROUNDUP: EU to push ahead with plans to open up for immigrants
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Brussels (dpa) - The European Union (EU) on Thursday signalled readiness to push ahead with plans to open up new ways for legal migration into the bloc, but stressed that foreigners will only be given temporary access to help combat labour shortages in Europe.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters after a meeting with his counterparts and EU justice ministers that the immigration policies should be in place by 2009.

Germany currently runs the rotating EU presidency.

Under proposals drawn up by the European Commission, so-called "job centres" will be set up in African countries to match job offers in the EU with potential migrants in sectors such as agriculture, building and cleaning.

The scheme aims to encourage "circular immigration" under which immigrants from Africa would work in the EU only for a restricted period of time. Agreements for temporary workers would also include readmission accords with countries of origin.

Under the commission plans, the centres would inform African would-be migrants about the possibilities for working in Europe as well as about the dangers of illegal migration.

The commission is currently asking EU governments to decide how many workers they need and in which sectors of their labour markets they want to fill vacancies.

France and Spain have pledged to advertise seasonal vacancies in Mali, where the first job centre is expected to be opened at the end of this year, with others planned for Senegal and Mauritania.

Brushing off criticism from the EU's central and eastern countries, which are facing work barriers against their citizens, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said he would seek to "encourage national governments to lift obstacles to the free movement of workers from the new member states."

While free movement of labour is one of the basic principles of the EU, some western European countries have introduced temporary restrictions on workers from former communist states amid fears of a massive influx of low-cost eastern workers.

The planned cooperation with Africa would focus on seasonal workers "who will have to go back (to their home countries) after a few months," Frattini stressed.

But EU officials have also said that the bloc must first and foremost try and attract particularly well-trained migrants to compensate for Europe's falling birth rates and ageing population.

Highly-educated workers from poor African countries were moving to the United States and Canada while Europe was facing an influx of less-trained migrants, they have warned.

The move towards legal migration is also seen as a way to curb the influx of illegal immigrants into the bloc. About half a million enter the EU each year.

The EU has discussed creating a joint immigration policy for years, but national governments remain reluctant to cede power to the European Commission on asylum and immigration issues.

Frattini on Thursday demanded that all EU member states provide Europe's border control agency by the end of April with technical equipment needed to cope with another influx of illegal immigrants.

So far, 19 of the 27 EU countries plus Norway and Iceland pledged to send planes, helicopters and boats to patrol the bloc's Mediterranean borders, Frattini said after a meeting with the EU's justice and interior ministers.

Spain, Italy, Germany and Finland made the biggest offers, EU officials said Thursday, adding that the total of 525 pledges includes 8 patrol planes, 13 helicopters and 38 boats.

Frattini said he was very satisfied with the offers made so far.

EU ministers also agreed to push ahead with plans to establish teams of national experts that can be deployed quickly to support member states faced with massive arrivals of illegal immigrants.

The teams should be up-and-running by the beginning of May, Frattini said. The initiative still needs the approval of the European Parliament and a final green light from EU member states.

About half a million illegal immigrants enter the EU each year. Spain and other southern member states have complained repeatedly that the bloc lets them down in tackling the immigration crisis.

Nearly 30,000 undocumented immigrants from Africa landed on Spain's Canary Islands last year, more than four times as many as during all of 2005. Italy and Malta have also seen massive arrivals of illegal immigrants on their coasts.

Seeking to combat terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration, EU ministers also agreed to give each other access to their police databases.