Interior ministers today examined a set of proposals from the Spanish EU presidency on combatting illegal immigration, as they prepared for a European summit in Seville next week.
The proposals include an action program on administrative cooperation between the 15 EU member states with regard to borders, visas, and asylum and immigration.
The interior ministers were also considering the setting up of a common European-wide system for exchanging visa information, the Spanish EU presidency said in a statement.
If they approve the proposals, it would enable Spanish Prime Minister Mr Jose Maria Aznar to put them before fellow EU leaders at the Seville summit for top-level political endorsement.
The summit takes place June 21st-22nd in the Andalusian capital, less than two weeks before Spain turns over the six-month rotating EU presidency to Denmark.
The European Commission thinks there might be 500,000 illegal immigrants in the EU, but it warns that a true picture is hard to get due to differences in the way that national data is collected.
Today's meeting in Luxembourg was taking place a day after the House of Commons adopted major changes to Britain's immigration and asylum laws.
The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Bill now goes to the House of Lords.
One set of proposals put to interior ministers set out measures to be taken for better management of the European Union's external borders, officials said.
It listed a set of initiatives for the short and medium term, such as the creation of a network of liaison officers at airports and a computer network to swap information on fake travel papers.
The plan also suggests creating an EU body that would bring together border officials of the 15 member states, enabling them to meet periodically to coordinate action.
Some diplomats say that this body would in fact be the embryo for a European border police force, though they warn that such a far-reaching measure could be years in the coming.
A second Spanish EU presidency document is more focused on dealing with illegal immigrants who come to Europe by sea.
It addresses the need to envision "measures against third countries that refuse to cooperate with the European Union in the fight against illegal immigration."
Britain and Spain support such a perspective, but others like France and Sweden are reticent, and the idea is likely to be referred to EU foreign ministers who meet in Luxembourg next Monday to make final preparations for the Seville summit.
AFP