May 31, 2002	Friday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

ROME, May 30: Europe’s interior ministers brought a common EU border police a step closer to reality on Thursday, agreeing to set up a task force to curb illegal immigration at Europe’s busiest air and sea ports.

Ministers of EU member states and the 13 EU candidate countries agreed that anti-immigration efforts should focus on airports in particular after a pilot study presented at the one-day meeting showed most illegals arrived by air.

The meeting backed a French proposal to extend the task force operation to major maritime ports, Italy’s Interior Minister Claudio Scajola told a press conference at the end of the meeting.

Spain’s minister Mariano Rajoy cautioned that a fully-fledged European border police was still some way off, as nations had much to do to harmonise laws and working practices.

“The task force could lead to the creation of a European (border) police but I can’t be sure of that at the moment. What we want to do is to increase cooperation,” Rajoy said.

Ministers would now await the green light for the pilot project from next month’s EU summit.

“We want to find a common platform at Seville to create a network of police officers working at airports to detect things like false documents, as well as a rapid response unit,” said Rajoy.

He said ministers had discussed a rapid response unit, comprising experts and national police officers to assist “in cases of mass immigration,” such as those seen in Italy in recent years when hundreds of Albanians or Kurds arrived aboard a ship.

Scajola, speaking alongside Rajoy, said a decision of the EU summit would result in “the immediate setting up of the structure in its fundamental parts with the creation of a certain number of (control) centres and the coordination body as well.”

Scajola signalled Italy’s willingness to host the new body.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily played down the prospect of seeing a common border police soon.

“We must not fall into the trap of thinking we are going towards the creation of a European frontier police straight away with its own statute, its own uniform, its own management organ,” Schily said after the meeting.

“It’s first and foremost a gathering of resources of the different national police forces in a spirit of cooperation and coordination. Will that lead to a European border protection corps in the future? We’ll see.”—dpa