Caritas Europa took the opportunity to illustrate its main positions on asylum, migration and integration. It was pleased to discover that Mr Hortefeux shares common concerns with the network on issues such as the Dublin Procedure, access to the EU labour market for all workers and integration.

With regard to the Dublin Procedure, these concerns refer, for example, to the stipulation prescribing that asylum seekers can apply for asylum only in the EU Member State through which they entered the Union. Mr Hortefeux ensured that the French EU Presidency will give priority to the review of the Dublin Procedure.

Concerning access to the EU labour market, Mr Hortefeux stated that the EU must acknowledge its need for a labour immigration composed of all categories of workers and not only of the highly skilled ones. Caritas Europa invited Mr Hortefeux to engage into concrete actions in this sense, such as the promotion of an EU common framework for the protection of the rights of all migrant workers.

Integration will be a priority for the next EU Presidency. France plans to suggest its model of 'Integration Contract' as a viable EU-wide solution. This model will be included into a proposal for an EU Pact on Immigration and Asylum, which the French Presidency hopes to see adopted by all Member States during its presidency, in a move towards a higher level of EU harmonisation in this area.

Although the present French model of 'Integration Contract' is only based on requirements for migrants, Mr Hortefeux agrees with Caritas Europa that integration is a 2-way process that demands efforts from both migrants and the receiving society. Migrants must comply with certain rules existing in the receiving society, while the latest is supposed to facilitate the integration of its new citizens. Mr Hortefeux invited Caritas Europa to participate in the Presidency Conference on Integration that will take place 3-4 November 2008.

In general, Caritas Europa welcomes Minister Hortefeux's reactions on several of the issues raised during the meeting and hopes to see them implemented in future policy initiatives. However, the organisation is deeply worried by the fact that France is a harsh defender of the clause introducing a 5 years re-entry ban to the EU for expulsed third-country nationals, which is included in the current version of the Return Directive. This proposal has caused the disappointement a majority of the civil society organisations working in the area of migration.