France and Spain are working very closely with the hope of overcoming their huge differences over France's proposal for the establishment of a common and binding European Union immigration "pact," local media reported on Wednesday.
The announcement was made in Paris Tuesday following a bilateral meeting between France's secretary of state for European affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet and his Spanish counterpart Diego Lopez Garrido.
During their meeting, Jouyet expressed hope that "France and Spain would manage to reach an agreement on an approach that can also be submitted to the rest of our partners during this autumn's EU summit."
"I think that the existence of a willingness to sure that we reach a common stand on the matter" can "ensure that we have an agreement, there are perhaps Franco-Spanish proposals by October," said Jouyet, adding that "this will be part of the agenda to be discussed at the Zaragoza Franco-Spanish bilateral summit on June 27."
Speaking during the same occasion, Garrido, on his part, said he hoped that the Zaragoza bilateral summit would help come up with "a very detailed position" between Paris and Madrid in order to move forward.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has consistently expressed his desire to push through his proposal for "an immigration pact" before during France's presidency of the European Union.
But, Madrid has expressed reservations on several points, particularly regarding the "integration contract" that would oblige immigrants arriving in the EU to commit to learn the language of the host country and to adopt its values, as well as on issues touching on equality between men and women.
The current Spanish socialist government, according to keen observers, is afraid that some of these provisions are overlapping or in conflict with existing national laws and even the Spanish constitution.
However, during the Tuesday meeting, France's secretary of state for European affairs was quick to point out that "the pact on immigration is not a machine for conducting expulsion in unison."
The overall aim of the agreement is to promote a "comprehensive, controlled, balanced, consistent approach to immigration that is in tandem with our values with regard to the phenomenon of migration across Europe," said Jouyet.
"We must be able to look beyond the wording. The important thing is the objectives of the pact," said the junior French minister, adding that European countries required a standardized approach for dealing with immigration issues.
"Definitely, there is need for a European policy on immigration," said his Spanish counterpart, who was later scheduled to meet with French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux, adding that he was "confident that differences between the two sides could overcome."
Source:Xinhua
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