The British Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, yesterday promised to implement "rigorous and hard-headed" policies designed to deter unwanted asylum seekers from seeking to enter Britain.
Mr Blunkett said he was "nearly ready" to take decisions on reforming asylum policy and the work permit system, promising coherent policies making up a "jigsaw of national action, European-wide and co-ordinated programmes and an international perspective".
Mr Blunkett is understood to be keen to introduce the routine fingerprinting of asylum seekers on entry into Britain for a European database installed at key ports and airports.
It has been suggested also that France could invite British police to help control access to the Channel Tunnel at Calais.
A Home Office spokeswoman said the idea had been considered, but stressed it would have to be part of a wider package.
Mr Blunkett's pledge of new measures came just days before a scheduled meeting with the French Interior Minister, Mr Daniel Vaillant, at which the British Home Secretary is likely to push for French action to curb the influx of asylum seekers risking their lives to enter Britain illegally through the Channel Tunnel.
That meeting would be a forerunner of closer co-operation between EU governments on asylum, Mr Blunkett said.
He added he would be unveiling a package of security measures for the ports.
Mr Blunkett stressed he would not be "having a go" at the French over the build-up of asylum seekers at the Sangatte camp near Calais, saying he wanted to work with the French on the problem, on collaboration on wider border controls and combating trafficking in illegal immigrants.
Writing in the Observer, Mr Blunkett said he wanted a balanced approach to asylum seekers, welcoming those in genuine fear of persecution but deterring economic migrants who had little to offer.
On the timetable for new measures, Mr Blunkett said: "I am not asking for a year's grace, just the opportunity to announce policy in a thought-through and structured fashion." Mr Blunkett also acknowledged that Britain was a "particularly attractive" destination for asylum seekers. The shadow home secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, warned that Britain was acting as a magnet for illegal immigrants because there was such a low chance of them being removed from the country if their asylum applications fail.