A controversial British proposal to hold asylum-seekers in detention centres outside EU borders received a lukewarm reaction at an EU ministers' meeting in Greece yesterday.
Britain, which received the most asylum applications of all EU member-states last year, with more than 100,000 claims, conceded it could take years to implement the plan it says is designed to stem illegal immigration.
Germany remained sceptical that the plan would work in reality, saying it doubted the scheme would result in fewer asylum-seekers coming to Europe.
The EU Commission said it would study the idea and would present its findings at a summit in June.
Diplomats said the British proposals had received a mixed welcome from the bloc's interior ministers, with a majority saying the draft plans raised more questions than answers and mainly economic and legal questions.
The British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, speaking ahead of the meeting, said they were "ideas for the future" and not an "instant policy, something that could be introduced overnight".
The proposal won the support of Italy, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
The plan has been criticised by Amnesty International, which doubts the legality of the scheme.
Under the British proposals, refugees would wait in detention centres outside EU borders while their application for asylum was examined.
Those found to meet EU criteria would be able to leave and enter the EU, while those who did not would be sent home.
The centres would be established on known transit routes in regions such as the Balkans and close to the countries from which many asylum-seekers originate, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The British proposals also call on EU member-states to share the burden and divide refugees granted asylum among the bloc's nations.
"At the moment we have an absurd situation. If we can't send \ back, or can't facilitate them going anywhere, they disappear into our economy," Mr Blunkett told BBC Radio from the meeting in the northern town of Veria.
"It will take years before we can actually change the system. That's one of the problems with asylum and immigration. You have an idea and then you have to spend a lot of time trying to get the practicalities sorted," he added.
The German Interior Minister, Mr Otto Schily, was highly critical of the proposals, which he doubted would be useful.
"I don't think such [detention] centres are able to reduce the number of refugees coming to Germany. A question mark hangs over whether this is a useful measure," he said.