Mr Sarkozy has threatened to pull France out of Europe’s border-free travel
zone if more is not done to tackle illegal immigration. The Franco-German
proposal will be discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers next week.
The EU’s passport-free travel zone has been under unprecedented pressure since
April last year after Italy gave residence permits to more than 25,000 Arab
migrants, allowing them unfettered access to the rest of the continent.
France, the likely destination of the mainly French-speaking Tunisian
immigrants, responded by temporarily closing a key railway frontier with
Italy and by introducing tough extra checks for papers on immigrants.
In March, Britain joined Germany, France, Austria, Holland, Belgium and Sweden
to demand EU intervention to plug a hole that is allowing illegal
immigration via Greece into the rest of Europe. The Franco-German demand for
new controls does not specifically mention Greece but diplomats said Athens
was the main concern, especially as European funding was given to the Greeks
for border checks.
The European Commission opposes the unilateral right to impose border controls
and is pushing for a “European- based system of decision making” with
majority votes of Schengen members deciding if a country is allowed to
reintroduce controls beyond a five-day period.