Immigration crackdown

ITALY and France want the EU to change the rules on passport-free travel between countries to help deal with huge swathes of immigration.

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and French President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed a joint appeal over the Schengen agreement to the EU leadership during a summit yesterday.

France has harshly criticised Italy for granting temporary residency permits to 20,000 Tunisian migrants who arrived in Italy since the start of the year following the revolt there; most want eventually to get to France.