Brussels, 02/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - In January, Spain, France and Italy will sign an agreement to set up patrols in the Mediterranean to track down illegal immigrants, announced Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Thursday. The patrols may later be extended to the Atlantic coast. The announcement came at the same time on Thursday as the European Commission announced a series of measures at the Justice and Home Affairs Council to combat illegal immigration, including joint Mediterranean patrols (see EUROPE 9080). Member States seem to be prepared to work together to tackle illegal immigration. A conference will be held on 4/5 December in Rabat (Morocco) on illegal immigration, attended by the French and Spanish European Affairs Ministers and Moroccan politicians to discuss financial issues. Some EUR 40 mil has already been earmarked for Morocco to help it with border control and a new package of EUR 15 mil will be granted in 2006 under the MEDA programme (see EUROPE 9048). Funding seems to be closely linked with the signing of a potential new readmission agreement, currently being negotiated between Morocco and the EU. Franco Frattini said the agreement would be signed by the end of the year.