The European Union has decided to create a task force to evaluate the immigration emergency: the results will be presented at the European Council next December. This was communicated by the president of the Commission, Josè Manuel Barroso, at the end of the EU summit of heads of state and government which took place in Brussels.
"The task force will report to the EU Council on four aspects: strengthening mechanisms to save human lives, support for front-line border countries in receiving immigrants, the need for collaboration with countries of origin and the fight against organized crime", Barroso specified .
The Italian premier, Enrico Letta, welcomed the decision positively, but without particular enthusiasm: "The Council's conclusions were sufficient," he said.
Barroso underlined that, after the Lampedusa tragedy, on immigration “the most concrete discussion ever took place in the European Council. The scale of human tragedy means that we must act now. Europeans cannot accept that people die at their borders. There is a general perception of urgency”.
A concept reaffirmed by Herman van Rompuy: “The Union was shocked by the tragedy on the coast of Lampedusa – said the president of the European council -. All leaders agreed on the need to take concrete action. We will act on the basis of three principles: prevention, protection and solidarity".
