(STRASBOURG) - The European parliament on Wednesday called for more legal immigration into the EU to tackle the problem of ageing populations.

"Currently the possibilities of legal entry into the EU are too restrictive and indirectly favour illegal immigration," deplored Italian socialist eurodeputy Lili Gruber, in a report adopted by MEPs during a plenary session in Strasbourg.

"It is impossible to combat clandestine immigration if, at the same time, the legal immigration routes are not well defined, as the two phenomenons are inextricably linked," she added.

The MEPs supported the European Commission's plan to present proposals next month aimed at facilitating the entry of qualified workers, to be followed early next year by similar blueprints for seasonal and work-experience employees.

They also backed the idea of long-term multiple-entry visas, for temporary workers to come and go as the work requires.

The parliament also called on the EU's executive arm to come up with a list of immigrant rights, covering the transfer of their social privileges, such as pensions, if they wish to return home.

The eurodeputies also backed another proposal stressing that illegal immigrants should not be assimilated into society as this would just encourage others to risk their lives on often perilous journeys in the hands of unscrupulous people-traffickers.

Mass regularisation of illegal entrants should be the exception, not least because "such measures do not solve the real porblems of racism and xenophobia," the parliament said.

The number of illegal immigrants in the EU stands at between 4.5-8 million, said the deputies.

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