Chipping away at European unity, the EU began to revamp its unique system of unfettered cross-border travel across much of the continent Wednesday, bowing to the stresses generated by a flood of North African immigrants, AP reported. The EU Commission proposed to reintroduce temporary national border checks "under very exceptional circumstances" after France and Italy had demanded changes to the so-called Schengen system, which erases many internal European borders for citizens and travelers. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said this could take place when "part of the external border comes under heavy unexpected pressure." She did not say if that includes the current situation in Italy, which has struggled to cope with more than 25,000 illegal immigrants this year, mostly from Tunisia, which overthrew its dictator in January. The Schengen system developed from humble beginnings in 1985 to into a "borderless" zone spanning 25 nations today. But there has been criticism, mostly from conservative and right-wing forces, that it helped illegal immigrants travel around easily. Mediterranean border nations like Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta have also complained that the 27-nation EU has dumped its immigration issues and the costs of dealing with illegal immigrants on their backs. Rome has pleaded for extra EU help for months, and when little was offered, it simply gave the immigrants travel papers and let them head over to France and other Schengen nations. Most wanted to go to France anyway, for many had relatives in Tunisia's former colonial ruler. That, of course, enraged the French, who beefed up controls close to Italy's border and sent many immigrants back to Italy. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi then came up with a compromise to revamp the Schengen system, including the reintroduction of border controls in emergency situations. -- SPA
