G5 hold immigration summit
Home Secretary David Blunkett met interior ministers from four leading European countries on Sunday in Florence to discuss illegal immigration, organised crime and the war against terrorism.
Also on the agenda was EU passports, ID cards, visas and residence permits.
Hundreds of demonstrators marched in Florence on Saturday and Sunday, protesting against the so-called Group of Five meeting.
The G5 is comprised of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Demonstrators marched behind a banner declaring “Florence against racism, nobody is illegal.”
Hosting the event was Mr Blunkett’s Italian counterpart, Giuseppe Pisanu.
Otto Schily of Germany, Dominique de Villepin of France and Jose Antonio Alonso of Spain also joined the group.
Talks end Monday with a news conference to follow.
Ministers from Germany, France and Spain will be pressing for closer collaboration between police and intelligence agencies from the five countries.
They are also expected to call for cross-border access to national criminal record registers.
But Britain is opposed to the creation of a so-called EU police force with jurisdiction powers that transcend national frontiers.
On immigration, Germany and Italy will make the case for large holding centres in North Africa to process migrants coming to Europe.
Mr Schily last week said the EU could not simply turn off the tap of migrants entering Europe illegally from across the Mediterranean.
Deterrence was the key, he said.
“What’s to be said against us creating a facility outside the frontiers of Europe that could check whether people have grounds for asylum or other reasons for fleeing?’
But the idea has drawn only lukewarm support from the UK, while France and Spain are opposed on humanitarian grounds.
