Franco Frattini, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, signalled the issue of immigration would “spell the end” of Italian integration in the EU. Frattini points to a “human tsunami” composed of tens of thousands of refugees flocking to the shores of Italian islands, fleeing from war-torn areas in Northern Africa.

For the moment, Italy has issued a temporary 6-month residency permit for some 20,000 immigrants from Tunisia. This would allow them to relocate to France, according to the Schengen treaty. The borderless zone created by the Schengen Agreements, the Schengen Area, currently consists of 25 European countries, covering a population of over 400 million people.

France, however, has already threatened to void such movements, warning that migrants without proper identification and sufficient funds for living would be denied entry into France.

What does this mean for EU security and internal border controls?

The French response so far has been to tighten the control of documents at the border with Italy, while Germany and Austria warned they could follow suit. Hans Peter Friedrich, German Minister of the Interior, said it was Italy’s repsonsibility to negootiate with the Tunisian government to find a solution to the problem and prevent migrants from reaching European shores.

On her part, Austrian Interior Minister Maria Fekter states: “We will see whether we can recognise the permits that Italy is delivering…. if we can let in people who cannot feed themselves, who cannot show they have the resources to stay in Austria, ... because letting these people in would only pave the way for crime, and as minister in charge of security I cannot accept that.”

After years of passing from country to country in the new EU zone, we might inevitably begin to see internal border patrols reappearing soon.

Berlusconi has already replied, “This is not a problem for a single country but for the whole of Europe.” He promised that Italy would not foot the cost of deportation of thousands of immigrants to their homeland. He also underlined the fact that 80% of immigrants from Tunisia have vowed to join family and friends within France, and that Italy would only be able to keep them six months in humanitarian shelters. Then they would be free to go to France.

In the meantime, despite diplomatic confrontation, Italian and French authorities continue to patrol the EU borders with Tunisia.