Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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November 19, 2007

EU Officials Meet With Mediterranean Counterparts
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1A4C7E2:A6F02AD83191E1605EE144A94674792D2A201403E89ED254& Host Portugal has
made tackling illegal immigration a priority during its six-month term
as EU president, which ends at the end of this year European Union
countries are meeting, for the first time, with their poorer
Mediterranean counterparts, to find ways to stem the flow of illegal
immigration to Europe. Lisa Bryant has more on the two-day meeting in
Portugal.







European Union Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini (R) greeting
Portuguese minister for Internal Administration Rui Pereira prior a
session of the first European-Mediterranean minister, 19 Nov 2007The
meeting in the southern city, Albufeira, brings together European
Union countries and Mediterranean counterparts, such as Tunisia,
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Turkey. Host Portugal has made
tackling illegal immigration a priority during its six-month term as
EU president, which ends at the end of this year.

That goal will not be easy. More than 100,000 illegal immigrants reach
the EU, every year, via the Mediterranean. Many thousands of others
perish trying to reach Europe's shores. And, as immigration analyst
Hugo Brady points out, Europe and the countries from which immigrants
originate or through which they transit see the question of
immigration very differently. Those differences will likely be on
display at the Albufeira meeting.

"Both sides come to the table with connected sets of concerns," he
said. "EU countries want only highly skilled migration...that will
help their economies grow. And, they also want the countries they
[illegals] come from or transited through agree to take them back.

Brady - a fellow at the Center for European Reform in London - says
Mediterranean countries want material help from Europe to fight the
flow of immigrants - many of them from sub-Saharan Africa. And, they
point to issues like European agricultural subsidies that make it very
difficult for their own economies to grow - another factor driving
people to immigrate.

Brady notes the EU, itself, is divided over immigration.

"There's a huge internal tension," he said. "So, the pursuit of a
common European policy on migration would be the most ambitious goal
the EU has yet attempted."

Southern European countries want more EU aid to fight illegal
immigration, arguing they are the first stop for many migrants.
Meanwhile, northern countries criticize mass naturalization efforts -
as in the case of Spain in 2005, when it legalized hundreds of
thousands of immigrants. Brady says northern members want to create an
EU pact on immigration, acknowledging that migration policies of any
one EU member affect the entire block.


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