[europeanvoice.com] Cecilia Malmström gave a polished performance
in her hearing before the European Parliament, one that indicated that
the commissioner-designate for home affairs will strive to remain very
much her own woman in one of the most difficult balancing acts in the
Commission.
Although the civil liberties committee is not dominated by civil
libertarians, the commissioner-designate for home affairs projected her
own liberal political identity and beliefs in her answers. And while
other commissioners-designate have dutifully followed the established
Commission line, Malmström took firm positions. She was forceful, for
example, in arguing for an increase in legal immigration to help keep
the EU competitive and in defending the fundamental rights of illegal
immigrants.
Malmström indicated that solidarity would be
her watchword in efforts to convince member states to deal collectively
with illegal immigration, in the battle to secure approval for
legislation in the Council of Ministers and the Parliament and in steps
to increase co-operation between crime-fighting authorities.
The issue of solidarity was raised most strongly by Italian, Greek
and Maltese MEPs, who repeatedly asked her how she was going to get
other member states to help deal with the large number of people who
try to cross the Mediterranean to reach their shores. She answered
firmly that while she appreciated “the pressure was hard” in the
Mediterranean, the majority of migrants entered the EU by plane and
came from eastern Europe. Nevertheless, she promised to strengthen the
EU’s border control agency, Frontex, by allowing it to buy its own
equipment and to ensure common standards for border guards.
The need for greater co-operation between member states and the
Parliament has been increased by the passage of the Lisbon treaty,
which grants MEPs powers of co-decision over most of the areas in her
field. Malmström described this as a “welcome change” that would both
increase transparency and ease decision-making in the Council. She
promised a raft of revised legislative proposals to take account of the
Parliament’s new powers, including legislation on child sexual abuse
and human trafficking.
She also promised fresh proposals on seasonal workers and the
transfer of corporate staff as part of measures to improve legal
migration channels. This was an essential counterpart to tackling
illegal immigration, she said.
However, she stressed the difficulties she would probably encounter
in convincing member states to agree on a common asylum and migration
policy. “I’m not superwoman, but I will do my best,” she said to a
Dutch Green MEP.
Charm was her tool of choice on that occasion, but Malmström was
also at pains to say she would be tough when needed. “I will not
hesitate to take member states to court if they fail to implement this
directive,” she said about rules that set out sanctions for companies
that employ illegal workers.
Where Malmström encountered most difficulties was on the issue of
security. She said security was as important as defending human rights.
She reflected that by promising to draw up an internal security
strategy, while at the same time pledging a review of all existing
anti-terrorist legislation to ensure it was proportionate, respected
individual freedoms and was cost-effective.
That went down well, but she entered more tricky territory with the
Parliament when she spoke up for the SWIFT agreement on the sharing of
bank transfer data with the US. She described the agreement as a
“useful contribution” to tracking terrorist financing and contended
that it had helped prevent a number of attacks.
At the close, the balance between security and rights came sharply
into focus when Manfred Weber, a German conservative, contended that
her primary responsibility was security. Malmström responded
substantively – there is, she said, no contradiction between protecting
security and defending human rights – and with humour. “I am not the
police; she is the nice person,” she said, referring to Viviane Reding,
the commissioner for fundamental rights. She rounded that passage off
with a declaration: “I commit myself to defending fundamental rights as
well as the security of all EU citizens”. That was greeted with
enthusiastic applause. But after the hearing, Weber and others on the
centre-right remained sceptical.
That scepticism seems unlikely to prevent her approval. But it was a
salutary reminder of the difficulties of her portfolio. She was in a
chamber that showed substantial respect for a former colleague. She
will probably have a tougher time making friends and influencing people
in the Council of Ministers.
Source: http://www.europeanvoice.com/current//article/2010/01/malmstrom-strives-for-balance/66924.aspx
