EU considers beefing up border police

Five European Union countries have proposed creating a joint border police unit to crack down on illegal immigration.

The ideas, discussed in Rome, come three weeks before an important summit in Seville at which Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar, the Prime Minister of Spain – which holds the EU presidency – want to make the battle against illegal immigration a priority.

Italy, Spain, Belgium, France and Germany have been at the forefront of calls for the border guard. They have done a feasibility study and want to concentrate their efforts on airports. Britain is unlikely to back the idea.

Claudio Scajola, Italy's Interior Minister, said yesterday that they wanted to "promote an integrated model that will guarantee the security of our citizens within our common space". The border police would operate at airports, which Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Interior Minister, said were "the route most exploited by illegal immigrants".

The Rome discussion came ahead of a vote in Denmark today that will toughen laws on asylum-seekers. The move has been condemned by the UN High Commission for Refugees.