Member states asked to pledge their contributions

The EU border control agency Frontex is this week expected to ask EU member states to declare whether they are willing to provide tangible assistance to the agency's anti-immigration joint patrols for summer.

They are also being asked to give details about the personnel and the equipment they intend to pledge.

Sources close to the European Commission said yesterday that the Commission does not want to end up in the same situation as last year.

Due to a lack of resources, the patrols started at the end of summer, when the bulk of the illegal immigrants had already reached the EU southern borders.

"We are starting early this year. The EU has already committed a much bigger budget to Frontex and we have to make sure everything is in place before the start of the 'illegal immigration season' next summer."

The issue was also brought up yesterday by European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini during an informal meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Dresden, Germany.

Frontex will be expecting a reply from all the 27 member states by the end of April.

"We need to know as soon as possible what resources Frontex will have for this summer. Let me be specific. I am talking about vessels, helicopters and personnel.

"We need an answer by April as otherwise it will be very hard to react in time to the massive flows of illegal migrants reaching countries such as Spain, Italy and Malta, as happened last year."

In an unprecedented move last year, Frontex started two separate anti-illegal immigration patrols, one off the Canary Islands and the other off Malta covering the Italian-Libyan strait.

The Mediterranean 15-day operation, called Nautilus, was only started in October due to a lack of boats and aircraft committed by member states and a diplomatic problem with Libya on the areas the operation had to cover. No illegal immigrants arrived in Malta during the patrols.