Brussels, 18/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The creation of centres for refugees and immigrants outside the borders of the European Union is far from enjoying unanimity within the Council of the EU. Meeting on 17 and 18 October in Florence, the Interior Ministers of the G5 could not avoid expressing their disagreement on the subject. France and Spain were hostile to the idea proposed by Germany and Italy and supported by the UK, a more radical version of which had been rejected by the European Council in June 2003.
"These hosting centres- do not use the word camps- would only apply to those who would be sent to transit countries having been intercepted at sea", said the Italian Giuseppe Pisanu at a press conference, reported by AFP. "For humanitarian reasons", the Spaniard José Antonio Alonso opposed this project, declaring the centres "not terribly useful". "For France, there is no question of agreeing to any manner of camp or hosting centre", said the French minister Dominique de Villepin. The French ministers is not opposed to cooperation "with the transit countries, the High Commission for Refugees and the humanitarian organisations". What he is not happy with is the European Union as "project manager". Nor does France oppose sending asylum seekers back to their country of origin, but disapproves of the centres which it feels will serve only to make matters worse.
The G5 Interior Ministers also confirmed that in future, they would like European passports to contain biometric data stored on a chip: a photograph and digital fingerprints. Initially favourable to just the photograph, the Council of Minsitesr is to decide in favour of both elements (EUROPE of 16 October, p.10).