'Blue Card' Plan for Eu Migrants

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, is planing to use his nation's six-month leadership of the European Union, which starts this week, to force through a series of controversial immigration measures.

The maverick right-wing leader hopes to draft an EU strategy on asylum seekers and refugees which would see an end to amnesties for illegal immigrants, a right for governments to detain individuals for up to 18 months, compulsory Europe-wide 'integration contracts' to be signed by new arrivals and a 'blue card', based loosely on the American 'green card', for highly qualified migrants.

'We want to bring people in who will serve a country and its growth and help them integrate ... So [immigration] flows need to be controlled,' said Dominique Paillé, of Sarkozy's majority UMP party.

Some of the policies have already been floated, but the plan will be presented in its entirety to European partners at a summit in Cannes in 10 days' time.

Campaigners across Europe have voiced concerns about the proposals. 'The length of detention is a real worry,' said one Dutch legal specialist. 'We are talking about holding thousands of people who have never committed any offense in often atrocious conditions for a very long time.' But he added that greater uniformity among European legal systems would be welcome. The proposed banning of deportees from European territory for five years is also controversial.

Both Britain and Denmark can opt out of European immigration legislation, but there are worries among refugee bodies that all EU member governments will be encouraged to follow the harder line set by Sarkozy's plan. Though currently many countries only hold detainees for several weeks, the legal limit has been set at 18 months. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi's new government last week unveiled plans to fingerprint 'Roma' immigrants. Illegal residence in Italy may also be made a criminal offense.

A spokesman for the Home Office told The Observer that Britain 'fully supports ... the French initiative to draft an EU migration pact and welcomes co-ordinated EU efforts to tackle the challenges posed by migration'.

The French take the presidency at one of the most difficult times in the EU's recent history. Following Irish voters' rejection of the Lisbon mini-treaty, designed to solve the constitutional and procedural problems crippling EU decision-making as more countries join, much of Sarkozy's energy will be taken up by constitutional reform. The French have also set out an ambitious program touching on defence, the environment, climate change and financial regulation. Yet Europe's leaders, beset by economic difficulties, display little will to expend precious political capital on unpopular causes such as the EU.

Already European Commission officials are complaining privately. 'National governments have made a habit of blaming "Europe" for anything that goes wrong - from a strong euro to the price of fuel,' one told The Observer yesterday. 'We don't get everything right but being made the scapegoat for everything doesn't help anyone.'

In preparation for what is expected to be a tough presidency, Brice Hortefeux, the French immigration minister, has been touring capitals of the 27 EU states to build a consensus. One sticking point is the 'integration contracts' which would foster 'the learning of national identities and European values'.

The draft is expected to be based on five main points: border protection measures such as biometric passports, illegal immigration - involving a moratorium on amnesties that have seen millions of illegal immigrants regularized in Spain and Italy in recent years - unified asylum laws and co-operation with the countries immigrants come from to provide incentives to remain at home.