A deputy from the Union for a Presidential Majority (UMP), Thierry Mariani, speaking at the National Assembly with a report on European immigration policy, stressed that it is time to part with the myth of Fortress Europe. Touching in one of the sections of his report on the problem of combating illegal immigration and joint border protection, the deputy highlighted the new image of Europe as an object of migration flows. At the same time, he emphasized the needs of European countries for foreign labor, writes Liberation.
“For thirty years Europeans have been talking about the price of milk and only for three years have been discussing issues related to immigration... Today they concern all European countries, even the southern ones,” the deputy stressed. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland - states from which emigrants traditionally left - have today begun to receive foreigners.
In the 1990s, the influx of migrants became the main source of population growth in the European Union. Armed with these figures, Thierry Mariani stated: “There is a fact that today no one or almost no one tries to deny: Europe needs immigration - of course, controlled, not spontaneous - to solve the problem of labor shortages.” True, he also added: “Immigration alone will not solve the problem arising from the aging of the European population.”
What policy should be pursued? In September, the Italians proposed introducing a system of quotas based on citizenship and category of immigrants. These quotas, set by each EU member state, would be included in a package of conditions that the European Union would put forward in negotiations on this issue with the countries of origin of immigrants. While Spain and Austria have already agreed to this proposal, other states have reacted more coolly to it. This issue will be studied by the European Commission.
Like Jacques Chirac before him, Thierry Mariani spoke against the quota system. Being too rigid, according to the deputy, they can be applied only to a very small number of immigrants (5-10%). In Mariani's opinion, these quotas politicize immigration, not to mention that they risk creating complex diplomatic problems for European countries.