The European Commission wants to fight illegal immigration into the European Union by harmonising rules on immigration and allowing more refugees to enter the bloc legally, according to proposals obtained by Reuters.
The EU's executive arm also wants member states to share the burden of the influx of African and other refugees, which it says falls heaviest on southern countries like Italy, Malta and Spain, where most illegal migrants arrive.
The Commission draft proposal says the 27-nation bloc's international image suffers from the low number of refugees from poor or war-stricken countries accepted each year in an unpredictable process.
"The current relatively low level of involvement of the EU in the resettlement of refugees impacts negatively on the ambition of the EU to play a prominent role in global humanitarian affairs and hence on the influence of the EU in international fora," the draft said.
The scheme, to be unveiled on Wednesday, is meant to discourage people, mainly Africans, from trying to reach Europe on makeshift boats or hidden in lorries with the help of human traffickers.
By making the system more transparent and increasing the number of people EU states would be prepared to take, the Commission says illegal entry would become less attractive.
"The principal objective of joint EU action on resettlement should be to demonstrate greater solidarity to third countries in receiving refugees, to involve more member states in resettlement activities and to provide for an orderly and secure access to protection for those resettled," the draft said.
The proposal would be negotiated by EU governments and the European Parliament. Later this year, the Commission will propose harmonising asylum and family reunion laws in the bloc.
According to UN figures, EU countries accepted 6.7 percent of the 65,596 legally resettled refugees worldwide last year. In 2010, some 203,000 people should in theory be resettled.
Under the Commission's proposal, a new European Asylum Support Office would meet regularly and each year define priorities in resettlement, taking into account refugees' needs, available places and EU foreign policy needs.
EU members would pledge annually how many people they would be ready to take, rather than making case-by-case decisions, like accepting recently Iraqi refugees from Syria and Jordan.
The countries would receive EU funds to help with resettlement.
"The EU could, for example, prioritize the resettlement of Iraqi refugees from Syria and Jordan, Somali refugees from Kenya, or Sudanese refugees from Chad," the draft said.