JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL : ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: PARIS AND ROME SPEAK IN UNISON.

Italy and France are on the same wavelength in terms of tightening the EU's policy on combating illegal immigration and intend to make that clear to their partners at the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council, on 25-26 February in Brussels.

French Immigration Minister Eric Besson and his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini, met in Paris, on 16 February, and decided to "coordinate their efforts to secure an urgent strengthening of the EU's external borders against illegal immigration". Rome and Paris had already argued together for the organisation of "European charters"...