After euro, Schengen under threat

Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi are expected to call on Tuesday for a partial reintroduction of national border controls across Europe, a move that would put the brakes on European integration and curb passport-free travel for more than 400 million people in 25 nations.

Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi are expected to call on Tuesday for a partial reintroduction of national border controls across Europe, a move that would put the brakes on European integration and curb passport-free travel for more than 400 million people in 25 nations.

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The French president and the Italian prime minister are meeting in Rome after weeks of tension over how to cope with an influx of more than 25,000 immigrants fleeing revolutions in north Africa.

The Berlusconi government outraged several EU governments by offering the migrants temporary residence permits which, in principle, allowed them to travel to other member states under the Schengen agreement.