France is in favor of strengthening the provision of temporary suspension of the free movement of Schengen in case of influx of illegal immigrants at an external border of the European Union, said Friday the French presidency.
This includes learning from the current influx of immigrants Tunisian and Libyan via Italy, which caused serious tensions between Paris and Rome in recent weeks, but the porosity of the Greek-Turkish border .
"We must draw the consequences of the shaky situation in which we are currently strengthening the integration in the management of external borders," says one at the Elysee.
It will be a menu of topics to Franco-Italian summit in Rome next Tuesday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy hopes to France and Italy are all, as they have done in 2009, a joint initiative in Brussels, told the Elysee.
The objective of this initiative will be particular to obtain effective cooperation in the South against illegal immigration but also a strengthening of Europe's Schengen now deemed "deficient" by Paris.
This building includes making modernization of the European asylum, a strengthening of Frontex, which organizes joint patrols with the EU's external borders and the establishment of a sort of safeguard clause, said President French.
"Schengen is subject to difficulties," says one at the Elysee."We believe that we must go up, as a last resort, a suspension clause in case of necessity."
"What we think, is that we consider a mechanism where there is a systemic failure at an external border of the EU to intervene by providing an interim suspension, the time the failure is resolved, "says the same source.
There already exists a clause of suspension, but it is of very limited application in time and geographically and is intended only for events of extraordinary nature.
France has made the call in 2004 for ceremonies of the 60th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy in 2007 after the London bombings.
The turmoil in North Africa, mainly in Tunisia and Libya, have led to the arrival in Italy of many illegal immigrants from these countries, once in the Schengen area, can travel in 24 European countries who are members.
It stresses, however, at the Elysee Palace that the discussions on strengthening the effectiveness of Schengen, which will be conducted at 27, will take time.
