The European Union, concerned increasingly about the rising anti-immigrant sentiment among its member states, has agreed to launch a joint program to curb the influx of illegal immigrants from third countries. That is one of the most significant results of the two-day EU summit meeting held late last month in Seville, Spain.
The success of that program will depend largely on cooperation by the countries of origin, including those that share borders with EU member states. To work out concrete measures, the 15-nation bloc is planning to hold talks with those countries. Visa procedures and border patrols are high on the agenda.
Equally important, the EU is moving to set common ground rules for accepting refugees who deserve humanitarian treatment, including unified standards for temporary housing. Joint initiatives along these lines are considered urgently necessary because individual EU states are now taking different policies toward immigrants.