German EU presidency to get tough on illegal immigration

(BERLIN) - Germany's EU presidency wants member nations to get tough on illegal immigration, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Thursday, outlining plans for increased police cooperation and data exchange.

As the European Union extends further eastwards, thanks to new members Bulgaria and Romania, "the German presidency will put a lot of emphasis on fighting illegal immigration across the Mediterranean but also from the east," Schaeuble told visiting Brussels-based journalists.

The issue of clandestine immigration will be the focus of an informal EU home and justice affairs ministers meeting in Dresden next week.

High on the agenda, Schaeuble said, will be the idea of "circular migration" -- methods for minimising the brain drain from poor countries of origin by promoting the return of professionals after a period in the West.

"We are all fully convinced of the need to closely cooperate with the countries of origin and transit," Schaeuble said. "We must also fight this terrible situation that people are dragged on to boats which are not fit to travel into the Mediterranean sea."

Europe has been experiencing a rising wave of illegal immigration, including large numbers of destitute Africans who risk perilous crossings in overcrowded boats from North Africa to Mediterranean countries Like Spain and Italy.

Schaeuble said he would push his fellow European ministers at the Dresden meeting to boost funding, resources and cooperation for the Europol police network and the trans-bloc Frontex border security operation.

Effective containment of illegal immigration "can only be done if more resources are provided and funds made available for Frontex," he said.

The focus of strengthening cross-border police cooperation will be a plan to incorporate the 2005 Prum treaty -- signed by seven EU nations including Germany -- into EU law. The treaty allows for heightened data exchange and cross-border policing.

The treaty allows participating states to match DNA or fingerprint samples with those on databases in other states. It also allows automated access to national vehicle registration databases.

"If our partners accept this, we will also do this during our (EU) presidency," which began this month and will run until the end of June, he said.

Schaeuble also stressed the need to increase dialogue with Muslims within the EU and admitted that there were still some "deficits" regarding integration in Germany.

"We understand that Islam is part of Germany with equal rights," said the German minister. "But that also means they need to accept the fundamental rights and obligations of our society."

In Europe in general "we do need to improve integration as a whole but we need to prevent parallel societies from emerging," he added.