WSJ

EU Considers New Border Checks

Some Members Seek National Controls to Contain Recent Influx of Migrants.

BRUSSELS—The European Union opened the door to allowing countries to reintroduce national border controls in order to police illegal immigration, in response to growing fears about whether it can handle an influx of North African migrants.

Bringing back border checks would be allowed only under exceptional circumstances, but the measure would nonetheless be a step toward reversing unhindered travel across most of the bloc’s internal borders, one of the EU’s signature achievements.

“I’m worried that borders might be back,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, the Continent’s principal official human-rights organization. “This could be a very bad thing for Europe.”

Concerns about immigration are particularly strong in Italy and France, which have borne the brunt of a recent influx of some 25,000 North Africans, mostly Tunisians, who took advantage of the temporary chaos to leave their home countries.

Opponents of cracking down on migrants say that number is just 10% of annual immigration to the EU, and that more than 600,000 Libyans have fled to Egypt and Tunisia.

The politics are influenced by renewed fears of immigrants wearing out social services and taking jobs at a time of tight budgets and high unemployment. When Italy’s Mediterranean island of Lampedusa was overwhelmed by immigrants, the Italian government gave temporary residence permits en masse to all asylum applicants who landed before April 5.

Some 25,000, almost all of them, have since disappeared inside Europe, most heading to France, because they speak the language. As French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is threatening to use the immigration issue to siphon votes from President Nicolas Sarkozy in presidential elections less than a year from now, it is becoming a headline issue.

French authorities admit they already are carrying out some spot checks, amid protests from pro-immigration groups and despite receiving a slap on the wrist from the European Court of Justice in 2010 for doing so.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Sarkozy met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and the two sent a letter to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso asking the EU to “examine the possibility of temporarily restoring internal border controls in the event of exceptional difficulties in managing the common external borders, under conditions to be defined.”

The commission, the EU’s executive arm, responded by proposing Wednesday that EU countries be given the right to reinstate border guards in “exceptional circumstances.”

The EU “would benefit from labor immigration in order to help address expected labor shortages,” said Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. “But migration must at the same time be properly managed—this means ensuring effective border control and the return of irregular migrants.”

The proposal has wide support among EU governments and is likely to pass, say EU officials and representatives of member governments.

In a statement Wednesday, the French government said it was “satisfied” with the commission’s response to Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Berlusconi’s letter.

.Proponents of more open immigration policies said they were disappointed by the commission’s proposal. “It’s not yet clear what the conditions will be,” said Joanna Parkin, an analyst with the Center for European Policy Studies, a Brussels-based think tank. “But it shows a lack of trust and solidarity among EU countries to manage migration.”

Unhindered travel through seven EU countries was introduced in 1995. The so-called Schengen zone has since expanded to 22 EU nations, plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. The U.K., Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania still maintain border restrictions.

Wednesday’s announcement also included proposals to create a common EU asylum and immigration policy. Mrs. Malmstrom proposed setting up centers outside the EU that would be authorized to grant visas valid for the entire union, and offering trade concessions and visas for skilled workers in countries like Tunisia in exchange for a tougher clampdown by their governments on outward migration. The proposals will be discussed at a meeting of ministers May 12, and at a summit of EU leaders on June 24.

The plan is likely to face its biggest hurdles in the European Parliament, which also must approve it. Juan López Aguilar, a Spanish socialist member of the European Parliament, on Wednesday called the proposal “unacceptable”.

—Stephen Fidler contributed to this article.
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