The European Commission is considering allowing member states to reinstate some border controls, its president said on today, responding to demands for more national power to stem immigration.
The announcement offered momentum to a campaign by France and Italy to rrestore some of the border checks, abolished in 1995 under the Schengen agreement, as they grapple with an influx of migrants fleeing political upheaval in North Africa.
In a letter to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said it would be possible to permit countries reintroduce limited controls.
"The temporary restoration of borders is one of the possibilities, provided this is subject to specific and clearly defined criteria, that could be an element to strengthen the governance of the Schengen agreement," Mr Barroso wrote.
EU countries may already introduce temporary border checks as Germany has done to stop foreign soccer hooligans visiting football games, but new EU rules could widen countries' freedom to do so, said a source familiar with the plans.
"With the new system, you would no longer need to invoke a threat to public order. This would extend the possibilities to reinstate controls."
The Commission, which writes the first draft of EU laws that are then sent to countries for approval, plans to present an outline of its legal proposals in the coming days.
If accepted, the new EU rules would alter one of the biggest achievements of the single European market, passport-free travel, but one which makes it harder to curb illegal migration.
The proposals could become law as soon as they are agreed by the EU's 27 member states and the bloc's parliament, a process that could be concluded in months but could also easily drag on for more than a year.
Reuters