European Commission to make historic visit to Africa

All 25 European Commissioners will next month travel to Africa to conduct talks on illegal immigration with their African counterparts.

This unprecedented initiative was announced yesterday by the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso in a speech during a debate organised in Brussels by the Financial Times on the theme Does Europe Really Mean Business?

Mr Barroso said that illegal immigration has become one of the major challenges for the EU. Reiterating that the problems in Malta, Italy and Spain are European problems, Mr Barroso said that the EU must work with the source countries of migration if it wants to solve the issue.

"That is why I can announce today that for the first time in history, the College of Commissioners will visit its sister organisation in Africa, the Commission of the African Union, at the start of October."

This was the latest personal initiative taken by Mr Barroso on the question of illegal immigration.

Last week the President of the Commission stepped in to urge member states to provide concrete help to Malta, Spain and Italy to cope with the influx of illegal immigrants crossing over from North African coasts.

In a letter addressed to all the 25 leaders of the EU, Mr Barroso appealed to member states to show "active solidarity" in the form of financial support and the deployment of people and equipment to the EU's borders.

Illegal immigration will also be topping the agenda of the upcoming EU summit in Lahti, Finland scheduled for mid-October.