Whistle-stopping immigration
France assumes the rotating Presidency of the European Union on July 1 of this year. Immigration policy is set to be one of the main issues to which President Nicolas Sarkozy, long-time defender of a hard-line stance, wants to find a tenable solution across 27 member states. Borrowing from the successful negotiation tool-kit established by Angela Merkel on environmental policy, Mr. Sarkozy has sent his controversial immigration minister, Brice Hortefeux, on a whistle-stop tour of the European capitals in an effort to forge compromise before key issues come to the table at the October 15 European Council meeting. Hortefeux’s intinerary has already seen him hit 18 capitals by mid-April and he hopes to bring his insights back to Paris ahead of July 1, in an effort to design an immigration compromise that could actually see it through negotiations, in which the unanimity of the Council is still required on a number of issues, thus making actual progress especially elusive. More on Mr. Hortefeux’s travels can be found here and we here at the blog will keep a watchful eye out for what might be in the works.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 am
[…] The French EU Presidency’s whistle-stop tour of European capitals in preparation for a restrictive immigration and integration policy has hit a major roadblock: Spain. As one of the EU Member States who has profited both from regular and illegal migration (the Spanish government has issued a number of amnesties for illegals over the years), Prime Minister Zapatero has rebuffed French plans for the creation of an integration contract obligation, which requires immigrants adjust to their recieving country’s “national identity.” […]
July 10th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
[…] French President and current EU figurehead, Nicolas Sarkozy claimed an early boost to his country’s presidency of the Union yesterday, with the conclusion of the much anticipated ‘European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.’ Of course, it was a watered down version of the document that French immigration minister, Brice Hortefeux, was peddling to Member State governments earlier in the year - and rightfully so. Spain threw a wrench in the French Presidency’s plans a few days ago, when it refused to agree to an addendum on integration and a Europe-wide ban on regularisations. […]
July 10th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
[…] French President and current EU figurehead, Nicolas Sarkozy claimed an early boost to his country’s presidency of the Union yesterday, with the conclusion of the much anticipated ‘European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.’ Of course, it was a watered down version of the document that French immigration minister, Brice Hortefeux, was peddling to Member State governments earlier in the year - and rightfully so. Spain threw a wrench in the French Presidency’s plans a few days ago, when it refused to agree to an addendum on integration and a Europe-wide ban on regularisations. […]