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10 June 2009
Tighter border controls, common asylum rules and more cross-border policing are called for as part of a blueprint announced Wednesday to revamp the EU's nascent common immigration, security and justice policies.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the measures would increase the security of Europeans across the 27-nation bloc.
"We want to promote citizens' rights, make their daily lives easier and provide protection," Barroso said. "This calls for effective and responsible European action in these areas."
The proposals, drafted by EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Jacques Barrot, form the core of a five-year blueprint to improve cooperation among EU governments.
Member states remain reluctant to share powers and give up sovereignty in sensitive areas such as policing and immigration.
Aligning various national immigration policies has also been complex, with disagreement over whether countries should give up control over who they let in.
The bloc's justice, interior and immigration ministers will debate the blueprint at talks next month in Stockholm.
The plans envision closer cooperation and information sharing in combatting organized crime, terrorism and illegal immigration, among other areas. They also include increasing data protection rights for citizens.
There are now some 8 million Europeans living or working in another EU member state, and more than 1,600 points of entry into the bloc, Barroso said.
"These are objective facts that justify a European approach because in fact we are living more and more together," he said.
The proposed measures include rules on electronic registration and data collection from foreigners entering and exiting the EU _ similar to the U.S. practice of fingerprinting visitors.
The bloc's external borders agency, Frontex, would also be given a larger budget and more say over how the air, sea and land borders are patrolled to prevent human trafficking and asylum seekers from entering illegally.
The justice commissioner, Barrot, set a 2012 target for European Parliament and the EU's 27 member nations to approve the proposals, which also include an "immigration code" guaranteeing legal migrants will enjoy the same rights throughout the bloc.
Barrot also called on EU members to share the burden of accepting refugees from other EU states hit with a high influx of asylum seekers.
For years, southern EU states including Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta have complained that their EU counterparts are failing to help them cope with an increasing flow of migrants from Africa.
Previous proposals to set up a common immigration scheme have fallen flat or been watered down, as some EU countries have objected to relinquishing national control over such policies.
The new plan, if approved, would replace a policy program adopted five years ago in The Hague.
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