Stefano Mallia, one of Malta’s members at the European Economic and Social Committee has been appointed as rapporteur for the EESC’s opinion on the EU’s agenda on Migration.
The European Commission set out its proposed priority areas and action plan on immigration in a Communication that was issued in May of this year. It is on the basis of this document that the Commission is currently undertaking initiatives with regards to immigration. The EESC has now been asked to provide its opinion on this document for which Mallia has been appointed as rapporteur together with Romanian EESC member CristianPirvulescu. The Opinion will be the subject of a public debate that will take place in Brussels and will finally be voted upon during the EESC plenary in December
Mallia who has previously been rapporteur for an EESC Opinion on immigration in November of 2013 expressed his satisfaction at again being appointed rapporteur and stated that ‘ for obvious reasons there is a lot of interest in the issue of immigration and this is also reflected within the EESC where the interest in this opinion is very high. It is now up to me and my colleague Cristianto put together a strong document.’
In commenting on the work ahead, Mallia was adamant that he was not interested in a paper exercise. ‘It is certainly not my intention to sit behind a desk and put together some general statements plucked out of thin air. I was clear from the start that I would only be interested in working on this Opinion if we are able to carry out some meaningful work beforehand. With this in mind, meetings with immigrants in detention centers in Sicily and Greece are being set up. I want to hear first hand what is pushing these people to take such big risks and what perils they are faced with during their journey to reach European shores. I also want to meet the people who are risking their lives out at sea to save people from drowning and if possible see first hand the conditions they are working in. It is only in this way that a meaningful document calling for concrete and practical actions can be put together.’
Mallia concluded by saying that over the coming weeks he will be consulting with those NGOs in Malta that are dealing directly with the issue of immigration.
Stefano Mallia is Vice-President of the Employers Group (Grp I) within the EESC.