” “” “” ” ” “Illegal immigration, according to recent estimates, records 350,000 to 500,000 new arrivals a year in the EU, which extend the size of a phenomenon that counts 4.5 to 8 million illegal people. A scenario, according to Frattini, that must be firmly fought, while offering "legal alternatives". "Because of the drop in the birth rates he mentioned , the EU needs legal immigration", so "we have to make the European Union an attractive destination for legal workers". To promote legal migration and fight illegality, the EU Commission proposes that, before hiring a citizen from a third country, an employer should make sure the person has a residence permit or some other authorisation that gives him or her the right to stay in the country, and send notice to the national authority concerned. Those who fail to meet such requirement will be liable to be fined or otherwise prosecuted, or receive penalties in the event of "recurring breaches, employment of at least four illegal immigrants, conditions of extreme exploitation and awareness of the fact that the worker is the victim of the trade of human beings".” “” “
