1. Welcomes the Commission's recent proposals on legal migration for non-asylum seekers, and urges it to develop further instruments to establish a common immigration policy, to manage economic migration with a view to promoting economic and social progress in receiving, transit and origin countries, and to enhance social cohesion by improving the integration of migrants; emphasises the need for adequate information to be provided on possibilities for legal immigration to the EU, in order to prevent illegal migration, make better use of the EU schemes for legal immigration, clarify current prospects and opportunities within the EU and g ...[+++]ive the lie to the false promises made by traffickers, thereby limiting the profits generated for organised crime and human traffickers by the need for people to move; calls on the Commission to foster protection measures for vulnerable groups and people (mainly women and children) who often become victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, and urges it to build up information centres on possibilities for migration to the EU in third countries; calls, however, for a balanced approach between promoting legal migration into the EU and ensuring that the EU has the capacity to receive and successfully integrate migrants;

1. Welcomes the Commission's recent proposals on legal migration for non-asylum seekers, and urges it to develop further instruments to establish a common immigration policy, to manage economic migration with a view to promoting economic and social progress in receiving, transit and origin countries, and to enhance social cohesion by improving the integration of migrants; emphasises the need for adequate information to be provided on possibilities for legal immigration to the EU, in order to prevent illegal migration, make better use of the EU schemes for legal immigration, clarify current prospects and opportunities within the EU and g ...[+++]ive the lie to the false promises made by traffickers, thereby limiting the profits generated for organised crime and human traffickers by the need for people to move; calls on the Commission to foster protection measures for vulnerable groups and people (mainly women and children) who often become victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation, and urges it to build up information centres on possibilities for migration to the EU in third countries; calls, however, for a balanced approach between promoting legal migration into the EU and ensuring that the EU has the capacity to receive and successfully integrate migrants;

1. Welcomes the Commission’s recent proposals on legal migration for non-asylum seekers, and urges it to develop further instruments to establish a common immigration policy, to manage economic migration with a view to promoting economic and social progress in receiving, transit and origin countries, and to enhance social cohesion by improving the integration of migrants; emphasises the need for adequate information on possibilities for legal immigration to the EU, in order to prevent illegal migration, make better use of the EU schemes for legal immigration, clarify current prospects and opportunities within the EU and dismantle false ...[+++]promises given by traffickers, thereby limiting organised crime and human trafficking profits from the necessity for people to move; calls on the Commission to foster protection measures for vulnerable groups and people (mainly women and children) who often become victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation and urges it to build up information centres on possibilities of migration to the EU in third countries; calls, however, for a balanced approach between promoting legal migration into the EU and ensuring that it has the capacity to receive and successfully integrate migrants;

From over 50 EESC opinions on the subject, the following in particular are of interest here: Communication on the open method of coordination for immigration and asylum policy, rapporteur: Ms zu Eulenburg (OJ C 221, 17.9.2002).Conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, vocational training or voluntary service, rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 133, 6.6.2003).Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme for financial and technical assi ...[+++]stance to third countries in the area of migration and asylum, rapporteur: Ms Cassina (OJ C 32, 5.2.2004).Communication on immigration, integration and employment, rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 80, 30.3.2004).Access to European Union citizenship (own-initiative opinion), rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 208, 3.9.2003).International Convention on Migrants (own-initiative opinion), rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 302, 7.12.2004.).Immigration in the EU and integration policies: cooperation between regional and local governments and civil society organisations, own-initiative opinion, rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 318, 23.12.2006).EU immigration and cooperation policy with countries of origin to foster development (own-initiative opinion), rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 44, 16.2.2008).Elements for the structure, organisation and functioning of a platform for the greater involvement of civil society in the EU-level promotion of policies for the integration of third-country nationals (exploratory opinion), rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños (OJ C 27 of 3.2.2009).Integration of minorities – Roma, rapporteur: Ms Sigmund, co-rapporteur: Ms Sharma (OJ C 27 of 3.2.2009).Common Immigration Policy for Europe: Principles, actions and tools, rapporteur: Mr Pariza Castaños, CESE 342/2009 of 25.2.2009 (Not yet published in the Official Journal).

32. Emphasises that, to underpin social progress in the third world, a strengthened United Nations is indispensable; therefore encourages the Member States to support the ongoing work on reform of the UN; stresses that a new and strengthened UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – ideally, reconstituted as a Council for Human Development with the power to coordinate the work of the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, and the ILO, as well as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) – is necessary to secure the policy coherenc ...[+++]e needed to achieve the MDGs and, more generally, to ensure that globalisation functions as a lever for social progress;

This Commission, which – as everyone knows – is a body attached to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, meets every year in Geneva and is a forum for intense debate on all aspects of international current affairs that have some connection or relationship with human rights.