When we talk about security, we must start with the statistics, referring to the type and number of crimes committed and also the people who committed them, including their nationality.

The increase in certain types of crime, and the consequent perceived insecurity, is closely linked to illegal immigration, but not only, also to the normal immigration of European Union citizens. It is a known fact that, whether we like it or not, during the three-year period stretching from 2004 to 2006, the top foreign nation in terms of the number of cases of voluntary homicide, sexual assault, theft, robbery and extortion was Rumania, from where there is no illegal immigration. It is immigration nevertheless, within the European Union and perfectly legal, into our Country, at least, and it is legal simply because it is totally uncontrolled as a result of the Rumanians’ right to enter all member Countries of the European Union after becoming EU citizens.
It is a fact, because we immediately tend to think of non-EU citizens and illegal immigrants, while the major cause of insecurity, both real and perceived, is instead due to EU citizenship.

If this is a fact, the goodwill of a united Europe, which we read about all every day at school, serves no purpose.
Therefore, as regards this topic, I wish to point the first accusing finger at myself as a member of this Government, and I confess that, as a political force, I am powerless to change the current state of affairs. I must say, in all fairness, that not even the opposition parties in the previous Government made their voices heard because, if it is true that since January 2007 we have had an influx of Rumanians, it is, above all, also very true that this was allowed to happen because, in previous years, while we were busy with the process of ratifying the applicable agreements, we failed to regulate the entry of the Rumanians, not even by means of a moratorium. The politically accountable parties are, therefore, the past and present political class.

I need to remind myself, as well as the politicians and everyone else, that if it is true that security is a right, such right is guaranteed by the European Union agreements, as well as by the European Treaty that set up the EU, reconfirmed by the C6 in Poland where, in the basic precepts of the resulting document, it is stipulated that security, both inside and outside the EU, is one of the EU’s own fundamental rights.
If the constitutional bill that we want is constituted by the treaty that we confirmed at the C6 meeting held in Poland, then we are told that internal security is a fundamental right, which then imposes a duty to consider the regulation of people’s movements, even with reference to EU member states.

The “Italia dei Valori” Party must re-establish its governmental and information activities, specifically as regards the need to establish some sort of regulation and possibly including a moratorium, which would be applicable to those citizens who, although they have come into the EU, must nevertheless comply with the rules and requirements of our Country.
As regards this latest phenomenon, there is a need for new and updated tools with which to combat criminality, Islamic fundamentalism and both national and international crime, with specific reference to the new criminal elements.

Without a doubt, a number of important actions have been taken in terms of immigration, beginning with the fact that the Bossi-Fini Law would not be suitable as it stands, because it requires the person to be in possession of an employment contract prior to leaving his/her Country of origin, otherwise he/she would not be allowed to enter Italy. I challenge any Italian to enter into an employment contract with a person from wherever, without even knowing the person. We then have the Turco-Ferrero Law, which applies a totally different approach, based on immigration flows, based on the person’s ability to find employment, even via a tutor, and based on a whole range of interventions aimed at getting to know others and allowing ourselves to become known.

This has certainly not resolved the problem of illegal immigration, however, I believe that I must personally accept responsibility, as must the entire “Italia dei Valori” Party, for having signed the Turco-Ferrero Law because, at the time, we thought it better than the Bossi-Fini Law and because it attempted to counteract illegal immigration, but above all because it provided some hope of legal immigration.
As regards the Turco-Ferrero Law, it is our belief that it must be agreed and expanded as regards the security measures it contains, with specific reference to those that have no fixed address and have no way of proving that they have any means of support.
There is a need for some sort of a moratorium, regarding even EU member Countries whose citizens come to Italy without being able to show how they propose to survive and support themselves. This is not because we believe that our Country is any different from other countries, but because other EU member Countries have done precisely what we are now requesting, countries such as Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg and Holland, who are members of the EU, yet they have implemented systems to regulate the flow of immigrants.

There is a very important security package that has been introduced in recent weeks, to which we have agreed, in favour of which I voted with conviction in the Cabinet sitting, and which our Party will steadfastly support in Parliament. It contains four points, to which we have added a fifth of our own accord, namely the crime of fraudulent financial declaration, with regard to which there was already a regulation that we strongly desired and that we managed to push through the Cabinet, regarding urban security, in other words, a regulation enabling us to punish the exploitation of minors by involving them in criminal activities, to make the collaboration between voters and mayors more effective, to strengthen the collaboration between the urban police force and other forces of law and order, to grant the prefects additional powers of expulsion and, finally, to make it easier to prosecute for crimes relating to illegal public occupation and vandalism.

We then put together another important package to place additional emphasis on the matter of precautionary custody for serious social crimes. We reviewed the abolition of the Ex-Cirelli Law, namely, the one that enabled expedited prescription and that therefore established compulsory prescription for certain crimes. For example, we have made provision for convicted criminals to have their details entered into a DNA database. Finally, we have made provision for a whole range of measures against organised crime.
If these were currently laws, rather than simple regulations, we would see a lower perception of insecurity. The “Italia dei Valori” Party’s actions will be aimed at amending the agenda, immediately after the Budget vote, as well as introducing legislative measures with regard to security, because such measures are not only important, but necessary as well.

One of the key points of our governmental activities is that they properly take into account the issue of solidarity, however, when solidarity is achieved at the expense of security, the situation then becomes unacceptable. Solidarity must be achieved at the expense of the political costs, bureaucratic inefficiency, at the expense of the local clever-dicks and, above all, at the expense of the many inefficiencies that politics produces, such as consultancies and many others.