In view of the terrorist threat, the President of the Republic affirmed that he wanted to overhaul the Schengen area "in depth", in order to secure our borders.
“
Today, Schengen is largely a failure
”, judged Philippe Gosselin, Friday, on the plate of “Talk Le Figaro”.
If it is necessary "
of course to put border controls back in place more closely"
, Philippe Gosselin also and above all pleads for "
not only European but also bilateral cooperation, of reciprocity, with border countries, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain or Italy in common collective protection ”.
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France now less alone in the face of Islamic terrorism
Favorable to a renationalization of policies within Europe, because "
democracies must more than ever also defend themselves",
the deputy LR of the Channel does not claim the absolute sovereignty of the States, conceding the need for agreements "
undoubtedly European, bilateral and circulation
”.
Far from him the idea of putting the countries under cover, but France must
"resume its capacity to control not only immigration, and more broadly its borders",
insists the Republican.
As for the right to asylum, he notes that
“for a few years, especially since the arrival of Macron, France has never had as much immigration whether legal or illegal
, (France being) the country Europe where requests for protection and asylum are blazing the most, ”
he says.
If everyone seems to agree today for a review of the right to asylum, including the president and the executive, some are pleading for European rules.
Philippe Gosselin: "Faced with terrorism, the Constitution limits us on many subjects" - Watch on Figaro Live
But Gosselin is wary
"of this dilution of rules",
certifying that often
"the less firm rules are those retained because they are the common denominator
".
The opportunity for the deputy to warn against the mistakes of the past by avoiding this time to reproduce them with the right of asylum.
"We must have national policies, undoubtedly coordinated within a European framework,"
insists the Manchois rather inclined to work in cooperation.
“
In reality, without going so far, we could already protect ourselves a little from neighboring countries,” he
believes.
For firmness
"
Our immigration and asylum policy cannot depend solely on Europeans
", insists the vice-president of the law committee, specifying his point for all practical purposes: "
It is not a question of asking for Frexit, but to have a firm policy. "
If asylum is however not granted easily, because two thirds of the applicants are rejected, the applicants nevertheless remain on the national territory.
For forced returns, the difficulty comes from their country of origin.
Often the Maghreb countries, (where the Minister of the Interior is going this weekend to start a discussion) do not want to take back their nationals.
On this subject, Gosselin hopes that the speech will strengthen.
"
We are in a context which today is not that of letting it happen a few years ago
", he underlines, inviting said States to understand "
that the free world wants to fight against terrorism and control things
”.
Pleading firmness, he adds: “
If the discourse until now has been relatively flexible, today we really have to arrive at give and take (…) even if it means losing maybe a little.
"According to Gosselin, the key lies in"
the conditionality of development aid, technology transfers, visas ",
the idea being to make States responsible by making them understand"
that there is a point of no return to which today we are attached
”.