José Manuel Barrosso,the president of the European Commission, has agreed to consider the temporary re-introduction of checks at the internal borders of the Schengen area in case of migration emergencies.
In a letter to Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi, the leaders of France and Italy, Barroso said that such checks were “one possibility” under discussion as the Commission reviews the arrangements governing the Schengen border-free travel area.
Barroso's letter, dated 29 April, is a response to a call by Sarkozy and Berlusconi last week (26 April) for the EU to help the two countries deal with an influx of illegal migrants from north Africa. The two countries had quarrelled over whether to allow 25,000 Tunisian migrants to cross the border into France from Italy.
Over the past couple of days, around 2,500 migrants – most of them fleeing Libya – are said to have arrived on Lampedusa, an Italian island off Tunisia. The arrivals sparked recriminations between Italy and Malta over who was responsible for rescuing boats that had sent distress signals.