"The statement by the Commission on the arrival of a package of measures to strengthen the measures already taken is a positive step and I see this as a sign that the EU executive is reiterating that the migration problem is not the problem of a single Member State, but a European one. The calls for more European solidarity and especially the reference to Directive 2001/55, which is a signal of the Commission's willingness to overcome the apathy and inaction of the last months, are also positive", said Mario Mauro MEP, Head of the Italian Delegation (PDL) of the EPP Group, during the Parliament's debate on the situation in Lampedusa and on the migration flows in North Africa.

"However I want to emphasise that we do not have to focus only on the 20,000 immigrants who have landed in Lampedusa, but instead we have to focus on the overall political situation, this is the real point, and this is making us extremely concerned: the events happening in the Mediterranean countries are comparable to the fall of the Berlin Wall when Europe was able to find solidarity and was able to integrate the countries of Eastern Europe. We do not believe that there are conditions for the integration of the Mediterranean countries but we believe that there are conditions for a Neighbourhood Policy and Strategy for the Mediterranean worthy of the name. The Commission should now make a proposal on Directive 55/2001 and bring it to the Council to vote on by qualified majority, making it inevitable for European countries to find an effective solution to this crisis", said Mario Mauro MEP, during the debate last night in Strasbourg in the presence of Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.

"There is a need to increase the synergy between development and security in European policy. We have learned from the North African revolution that our aid distributed by official channels through dictatorship regimes does not solve the problems of societies and people in these countries. Our aid measures must help the people, not the dictators. EU development aid must be based not only on conditions of economic reforms, but also on those in the area of democracy and human rights. Now we know that young people in countries like Libya are not only asking for bread: they are also asking for freedom and democracy", said Jacek Protasiewicz MEP, EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur on the Report on migration flows arising from instability, and the role of the EU foreign policy in dealing with this issue. The Report will be voted today in Plenary.

Press Release: Migration flows arising from instability. Jacek Protasiewicz MEP

For further information:
Mario Mauro MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-175387
Jacek Protasiewicz MEP, Tel: +33-3-88-175743
Francesco Frapiccini, EPP Group Press & Communications Service, Tel: +32-473-941652
Joanna Bekker, EPP Group Press & Communications Service, Tel: +32-476-943388

Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 265 Members.