ISLAMABAD, Feb 11: Pakistan and the European Union (EU) have started formal negotiations to sign a 're-admission agreement' for checking illegal immigrants living in the Europe, sources said on Friday.

The agreement would enable the EU to repatriate any person to Pakistan who holds a Pakistani passport or nationality and is living illegally in Europe.

The sources said that Pakistan and the EU had already held three rounds of negotiations on the proposed agreement to develop consensus on some controversial clauses of the treaty mostly related to the acceptance of a third-country national.

EU ambassador to Pakistan Iikka Uusitalo, in a seminar on WTO training held recently, confirmed to Dawn that Pakistan and the EU had already held three rounds of negotiations on the agreement.

He said the fourth round would be held soon but did not give the date and place for the meeting. The ambassador said that there were only a few articles on which consensus would be developed in the next round.

He ruled out any linkage of the agreement with the suspension of the anti-dumping duty on Pakistani bed-linen and the new EU generalized system of preferences (GSP) plus scheme.

No comment was immediately available from the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman on the agreement despite repeated contacts. According to the sources, Pakistan has reportedly signed a bond with EU officials to seek a waiver for two years for signing the re-admission agreement.

The sources maintained that the EU was asking Pakistan to comply with its commitment and sign the proposed agreement at the earliest. The sources said the issue of re-admission agreement was also raised bilaterally by Italy and the UK with senior Pakistani officials including the prime minister and foreign and commerce ministers in seeking a solution to the problem of people who had settled in Europe with fake documents or illegally.

Pakistan's acceptance of the commitments in the agreement with the EU would result in the deportation of a huge number of Pakistani people currently working in various European countries, the sources added.

Pakistan was opposing the condition on the pretext that Islamabad was not responsible to accept those stateless people, who did not have a valid Pakistani passport or were nationality holder and living illegally in Europe.

Pakistan would also not accept those people, particularly Afghan refuges, Bengalis and others living in Europe who got Pakistani passport for travelling purpose to get settle in any European country, the sources added.