Franco Frattini, Freedom and Security Commissioner

STRASBOURG (Reuters): The European Union’s top immigration official on Jan. 11 urged reluctant EU states to embrace migrants as an opportunity and not see them as a threat.

Europe needs to attract legal migrants to help boost economic growth and counter the effects of an ageing population, EU Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said.

He promised to have andebate with EU member states, EU lawmakers, citizens and industry before proposing a draft law on legal migration towards the end of 2005. “We should encourage a positive attitude towards economic migrants. We should consider them not as a threat but as a possible resource,” Frattini told a news conference.

“They are an opportunity rather than a risk, but we need clear rules, a clear framework.” Forging a common policy to promote and regulate the entry of legal immigrants is likely to be an uphill struggle since several member states, led by Germany and Austria, have so far opposed any interference on this issue from Brussels. He said governments would retain their national right to set immigration quotas –– a prerogative protected in the future EU constitution –– but the overall approach could still be made more coherent.