Brussels, 13/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - In Paris on Thursday, the French, German, British, Spanish and Italian foreign ministers issued a joint statement noting that they were considering a European Police Force for intervening at borders which could mobilise in the event of a crisis national specialist resources (identified in advance) to intervene at one of Europe's external borders. The police force might be a forerunner of a European Border Police, explained the French interior minister, Dominique de Villepin. The five ministers now meet regularly. They called for the European Border Agency to be above all an operational tool to launch tighter joint border controls at external borders.
Regarding borders between EU Member States, the five ministers said that the future Border Crossing Code should keep the existing system of temporary re-introduction of borders 'when public order requirements so demand'. This option has already been utilised ahead of G8 meetings and major sports events. The five ministers said they were convinced that to combat illegal immigration, there should be bilateral and multilateral establishment of tighter controls of internal borders in the European Area, especially on international transport routes (rail, bus routes, ships and air). But the five ministers carefully avoided any mention of the massive operation to provide papers for illegal aliens in Spain, fiercely criticised by German minister Otto Schily.
The five ministers called for the establishment of a system in Europe for making use of air passenger information, like the similar system already used by the United States. The European Commission will unveil a proposal to this effect in the next few months.