European Union" "
The Italian pilot project for the creation of a joint airport police force to tackle the immigration crisis has obtained the approval of the Council of interior ministers, meeting in informal session in Rome last week for a study seminar on the protection of the frontiers. The project, which will be further developed in the course of the next meeting of the justice and internal affairs Council scheduled for 13 and 14 June, will then be presented to the European Council of Seville (21-22 June) for political endorsement. It also provides for the creation of a European frontier police force. According to the declarations of Claudio Scajola, interior minister of the Italian government, participation in the new joint forces will be optional: it will be open to those who desire to do so, without any legal obligation to contribute to it. The European Commissioner for justice, Antonio Vitorino, has confirmed that the new force “will have the mission of supporting the national services of the member states and not substituting them”. The Rome seminar was also the occasion to present the joint proposal of Austria, Belgium and Finland relating to the possible cooperation between the competent authorities through the creation of the role of “liaison officers” for the control of the EU’s external frontiers.
