Written declaration No. 477 | Doc. 12589 | 04 July 2011

Solidarity in the management of the North African refugee crisis

Signatories: Mr Viorel Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Mr Vladimiro CRISAFULLI, Italy, SOC ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi GABASHVILI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Tadeusz IWIŃSKI, Poland, SOC ; Mr Pietro MARCENARO, Italy, SOC ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr José MENDES BOTA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Akaki MINASHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Mr João Bosco MOTA AMARAL, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Adrian NĂSTASE, Romania, SOC ; Mr Pasquale NESSA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Tudor PANŢIRU, Romania, SOC ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Oreste TOFANI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Latchezar TOSHEV, Bulgaria, EPP/CD ; Mr Petré TSISKARISHVILI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

The undersigned members of the Assembly,

• Deeply concerned by the dramatic situation of tens of thousands of people who have been forced to leave their families and homes by the situation created in North African countries and who are crossing the Mediterranean with substandard means of transport to the territory of some European Union member states;
• Convinced of the importance and necessity of maintaining and promoting European solidarity in the new circumstances generated by the challenges of globalisation;
• Aware of the risks inherent in a technical and limited interpretation of the rules, agreements and conventions on which the European Union is based and of the need to identify solutions designed to harmonise the interests of European Union member states;

Call upon the solidarity of European institutions, governments and national parliaments of European Union member states regarding crisis management in response to the wave of migrants originating from North African countries;

Express our belief that wisdom and shared responsibility will prevail in the solutions adopted for dealing with the economic crisis in particular and that electoral interests will not be served.