The re-instatement of European border controls to tackle a wave of immigration from northern Africa is a “possibility”, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has suggested.
Barroso’s remarks in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Sunday (1 May) come after a period of bickering between the two states, centered on the fate of some 25,000 Tunisian immigrants who have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa since January.
The dispute has thrown the spotlight on a 1985 treaty abolishing border posts – known as the Schengen Agreement – which has grown over time to encompass 25 continental states, home to roughly 400 million people.
"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," Barroso wrote.
On Wednesday the commission will come forward with a policy document outlining a series of measures to ramp up the bloc’s migration policy following a series of recent revolutions in northern Africa.
A more strategic approach concerning relations with third countries, together with the completion of the EU’s Common European Asylum System are among the measures expected to feature in the document.
In his letter, Barroso also said the commission was in favour of strengthening the EU’s joint border agency, Frontex.
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