The premiere of the pact took place in early July in the French city of Cannes at an informal meeting of European interior ministers. Already on the eve of the departure for the meeting, the head of the German Interior Ministry, Wolfgang Schäuble, was forced to give 'explanations' regarding reproaches that had appeared in the press – allegedly, on the French Riviera, the ministers would decide how best to 'shield' Europe from the chaos associated with the unceasing influx of refugees. Having subtly caught the irony directed at him, Minister Schäuble explained what they did and did not intend to do in the south of France: 'We are not building a bunker out of Europe,' he stated, 'but merely regulating the directions of migration in the world.'
The fellow ministers are united in that the paths of illegal immigrants to Europe are often inscrutable for the authorities, and it is high time to do something about it. Like Wolfgang Schäuble, they repeatedly emphasized that adoption of the pact does not signify a striving for 'self-isolation' of the EU. The head of the Luxembourg Interior Ministry, Luc Frieden, stated: 'It is not about building a wall.' The EU Commissioner for Justice, Jacques Barrot, signaled on behalf of official Brussels that the European Commission aims to make the process of immigration into the EU 'harmonious and generous'.
Participants in the ministerial meeting received the text of the pact, which in its final form is to be adopted – as President Sarkozy desires – in October. Its main meaning boils down to the fact that the European Union should become even more attractive for immigrants in the future. However, not for everyone. It is about highly qualified personnel who enter EU member states on a legal basis.
In this sense, the future pact bears the stamp of French domestic policy. It, for example, talks about immigration choisie – something like 'managed' or 'selective' immigration. It is believed that this concept is a product of the personal domestic political creativity of the former head of the French Interior Ministry, now the master of the Élysée Palace. In the past, he repeatedly said that France should have the ability to choose immigrants who could be useful for the labor market. Nicolas Sarkozy managed to introduce in his country a rather strict system of quotas for the expulsion of foreigners without the right of residence. Thus, the head of the immigration department was allocated a quota for this year to expel 26,000 illegals from France. Moreover, the process is clearly escalating: in 2002, 10,000 people were expelled.
Nevertheless, Paris, as well as Berlin, will have to come to terms with some relaxations in the text of the pact. They were included in the document, in particular, at the request of Spain. In that country, about 70,000 illegal immigrants have been legalized in recent years. Italy followed the same path. Therefore, the Spanish interior minister insisted on a future rejection of the ban on mass legalizations, which President Sarkozy had demanded to introduce.
Among the most interesting sections of the draft of the document being prepared is the chapter 'Uniformity of Asylum Procedures'. It states that the future 'European Support Office' should assist member states in creating a unified asylum system. In the event of a 'massive influx of asylum seekers' into one country, other countries would have to – on the principle of a sort of 'immigration NATO' – rush to help. And to avoid such a calamity if possible, the pact talks about 'improving the protection of the EU's external borders'.
To this end, the countries participating in the pact will assume obligations to provide the necessary resources to the border agency 'Frontex', headquartered in Warsaw. It was established in 2004 with the aim of managing operational cooperation at the external borders of EU member states. This was a response to the threats of an annual increase in the number of illegal migrants in the EU – almost 500,000 people per year. The profits of criminal organizations involved in their transportation reach €15 billion. In this sense, the most important section has become the eastern border of the EU, extending over 1,100 km. Support for Frontex, the draft immigration pact says, should be such that the agency is able to fulfill its assigned functions 'to the full extent'.