Brussels, 15/04/2008 (Agence Europe) - EU ambassadors are to meet again, on Wednesday 16 April, to look at the state of play in talks with the European Parliament on the “returns” directive relating to the custody or expulsion of foreigners found to be in an illegal situation in member states. The dossier will also be discussed on Friday during the meeting of interior ministers in Luxembourg. For now, discussions at Council level have moved forward well, despite some reservation on the part of member states such as Cyprus or Malta on issues such as the amount of time that illegal migrants can be held in detention. Although negotiations between member states are making headway, those currently being conducted between the Slovenian EU Presidency, the Commission and the European Parliament have hardly moved forward, as can be seen by the results of the last trilogue organised in Brussels on 9 April. Given the little time available to the representatives of the three EU institutions, little progress was made. In reality, no compromise has yet been reached on three main issues, the rapporteur, Manfred Weber (EPP-ED, Germany), pointed out after the meeting, in an interview with DPA. These points relate to the duration of detention for illegal migrants, the nationality of citizens concerned and the rules relating to the protection of children and families. “The Parliament does not grasp the whole of the problem in that we want to come to a balanced text for enforcement. Under no circumstances is it a question of creating new rights”, one diplomat stressed. The next trilogue is to be held on 23 April in Strasbourg. The European Parliament plans to vote on the text in May, during the plenary session. (B.C.)