(GENEVA) - The UN High Commissioner for Refugees warned France not to tighten EU immigration policy at the expense of refugees' rights, as it took over the bloc's presidency Tuesday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already said he intends to use the six-month presidency to adopt a tough "European pact on immigration and asylum", which would see a hardening of policy in the controversial area.

"UNHCR hopes that France will take the lead in making sure that migration management measures are not at the expense of refugee protection," the agency's spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told a news conference in Geneva.

The UNHCR also expressed a hope that Paris's presidency of the 27-nation bloc would take steps to allow more refugees to be permanently settled in the EU.

"(We) also urge France to take forward the discussion of refugee resettlement at EU level, with a view to engaging more member states in resettlement and making more resettlement places available in the European Union," Pagonis said.

In a televised interview on Monday to launch the French presidency, Sarkozy said that "a political refugee can present 27 cases in 27 countries, get 26 'no's and still get a 'yes'.

"A 'no' in one country must be valid for the others. A 'yes' must be valid for the others."

The planned pact -- the product of months of work -- will be unveiled by the French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux at a summit of 27 immigration ministers in Cannes on July 7 and 8.

France has defined four priorities for its EU stint -- immigration, defence, energy and the environment, and agriculture -- and one of its most high-profile projects is the July 13 launch of a new Union for the Mediterranean.

The union will bring together European countries with states from the Mediterranean rim including Israel and its Arab neighbours to develop cooperation.

However, the rejection by Irish voters last month in a referendum of the Lisbon Treaty, designed to streamline decision-making in the EU, has overshadowed much of France's planned agenda.

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