Finland gets cautiously positive response to proposal of sharing costs of immigration

Tampere EU meeting proposals nevertheless unlikely to be implemented any time soon

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Finland's EU initiative on the sharing of the burden of immigration and asylum questions among all member-states was given a cautiously positive reception at the informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in Tampere on Thursday.
      Finland has proposed that EU members should spread the costs arising from illegal immigration more evenly. Immigrants are pouring in to the Mediterranean states and the Canary Islands in particular.
     
The Finnish proposal argues for the payment from a central EU fund of a considerable share of the costs arising from the reception, upkeep, and possible repatriation of immigrants.
      Alongside this carrot is a stick in the form of a demand that each country should meet its own responsibilities, for example in the control of its external borders. "We are not simply doling out money", said Finland's Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki (SDP), who chairs the two-day meeting together with Minister of Justice Leena Luhtanen (SDP).
     
Not all the member-states are completely on the same wavelength with the Finns. Britain took a sceptical view of the plans. Germany emphasised the responsibility of the first landfall country. "The first country taking someone in should be prepared to bear the responsibility for returning the would-be immigrant", said German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble .
     
The EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini proposed that there should be an examination of the prospects for using the EU Solidarity Fund to cover costs incurred by immigration problems.
      The Fund has hitherto been earmarked for the support of countries hit by natural disasters, but Frattini feels that the current situation in the Canary Islands - where illegal immigrants from Africa are constantly dying in large numbers at sea - can justly be regarded as a catastrophe. Whilst Frattini admitted that there might be legal obstacles to an extension of the Solidarity Fund's remit, he nevertheless believes the idea is worth exploring.
      Frattini, who is also Vice-President of the Commission, further promised to examine the possibility of broadening the use of the Eurodac register (see link below) such that it would also record details on those illegal immigrants who are not seeking asylum. This would in turn facilitate the recognition of illegals if they move on within the Schengen area to another European country.
     
The Tampere meeting is informal, so nothing was actually agreed upon and set in stone.
      The general consensus is that a common Union policy on immigration will not be realised any time soon. These are difficult issues and cannot be resolved in haste, said Rajamäki.
     
Thursday's meeting was accompanied by a demonstration involving just under 100 people, who also held a moment of silence directed to "the victims of EU immigration policy".
      The demonstration, arranged by the Finnish branch of Amnesty International, issued the reminder that between 800 and 3,000 people have drowned this year in the attempt to cross from Africa to the Canaries. Human rights groups have accused the EU of creating a "Fortress Europe" effect or a new Berlin Wall on the Union's external borders.
      Commissioner Frattini rejects the charges and defends the right of countries to return those who have sought entry illegally. Spain began repatriation flights last week.
     
Note: The Finnish proposals and the current vexed state of EU immigration are also explored in the column from June linked below.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Making EU border controls more efficient (Column, 20.6.2006)

Links:
  Finnish EU Presidency website
  EU Presidency Press Release, 21.9.2006
  Frontex (Wikipedia)
  Eurodac

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