Mr President, I too should like to thank the rapporteur for his work on this very rich report, which covers a very wide area. Part of the problem that we see in the European Union is that certain Member States now see themselves moving from countries of emigration to countries of migration, and other countries are coming face to face with the fact that they have made a very bad job in terms of using the talents and skills of many long-term migrants and, indeed, second and third generation nationals, as they are now in some countries.

In an ideal world migration should be a matter of free choice, not forced by circumstance, so we welcome the recognition in this report of the need to reduce the causes of forced migration. Whether people wish, by choice, to come and help us out with out labour shortages and our demographic problems will depend on the circumstances of their welcome and the treatment that they receive here when they are resident. I welcome Mr Pérez Álvarez's reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the positive position of many other speakers this afternoon.

There are a number of issues concerning, in particular, the labour market and equal treatment, which form part of this will to come and work in the European Union. The Article 13 directives tackling the racism and discrimination faced by many migrant workers are extremely important, as are the issues surrounding access to the market itself and equal pay and working conditions – rather than the exploitation of cheap migrant workers.

There is evidence in quite a number of European countries that certain industries rely very heavily on migrant workers whose status is often in doubt. We need to be very careful that the demands of our economy do not encourage the proliferation of poor working practices and the trafficking of workers.

On the question of civic citizenship, we very much agree with that as it stands in the report. We support the current text, including voting rights. The UK experience, for example, is that a number of our local councils benefit greatly from the representation of first generation migrants.

Jean Lambert