Brussels, 28/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting on Thursday 24 July, EU Immigration Ministers took note of the state of play with regard to the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum which is likely to be adopted at the European Council in October (see EUROPE 9699). As French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux noted at a press conference, at the informal meeting in Cannes in July there was “broad consensus” on the Pact, which has now become a “European initiative”. “It's a Pact for everyone,” Hortefeux said, picking up the comments of his Portuguese counterpart. “All that remains is to tweak the wording,” he went on. In fact, there is only one major problem to be sorted out, since several member states, like Denmark, Sweden, Hungary and the Czech Republic, are unhappy about mention being made in the text of a “European border guard”, which the Pact proposes in the long term. They say that it is the national border guards who have competence on the ground. Having noted the reservations of these countries at the meeting, Hortefeux suggested “moving from a system of European border guards to a European system of border guards”. The advantage would be that this would encourage cooperation rather than having to set up a genuine European border guard corps. A third version of the Pact is likely to be brought forward by the Presidency at the end of August. It will then be presented the Permanent Representatives to the EU, before being put to the European Council on 15-16 October. European Justice, Liberty and Security Commissioner Jacques Barrot, also presented two Commission communications, one on a common European immigration policy and the other on an asylum action plan (see EUROPE 9683 and 9684). The Council noted that the communications chimed well with the draft Pact. Barrot said that the two approaches were very similar. “From the Pact, we have to move on to action,” he went on, indicating that it was now time, in his opinion, for European countries to move towards a common asylum system. (B.C./transl.rt)