Brussels, Dec 6, SPA -- European Union government ministers were meetingin Brussels on Thursday to hold broad discussions on one of the mostsensitive issues facing the 27-member bloc: immigration, reported dpa. Some 2 million third-country nationals enter the EU each yearseeking a better life, according to EU estimates. And there is littleevidence to suggest this figure will drop significantly in theforeseeable future. Most governments accept that migrants are needed to make up forlabour shortages and compensate for their countries' ageingpopulations. But the at times poorly-managed inflow has also fuelled growingresentment among ordinary citizens, opposition from nationalistparties and calls for stricter controls by government officials. For the first time, EU justice and home affairs ministers werecalled to Brussels to discuss the issue with their employment andsocial policy colleagues. Ministers attending a closed-door council session on the subjectwere expected to spell out their countries' positions and offer theirviews on a number of proposals currently being put forward by theEU's executive, the Commission. These include plans for a European-wide "Blue Card" granting awork permit and better working conditions to highly skilled workersarriving from outside the EU, and stronger sanctions againstbusinesses that employ illegal migrants. Such measures reflect an EU shift towards a "pick and choose"approach to migration that is likely to adversely affect lower-skilled third-country nationals. On Wednesday, for instance, the British government outlineddetails of a points-based system to "manage" immigration from outsidethe EU under which unskilled workers would have little chance ofentering Britain and spouses would have to pass an English languagetest. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the proposals, devised along thelines of the Australian immigration system, were aimed at providing"robust machinery" to ensure that only those migrants "meeting theneeds of the UK will be allowed to enter and work." The council meeting in Brussels was also expected to fine-tune thebloc's anti-terrorism measures, discuss proposals for stricter guncontrols, and endorse a decision to allow nine new EU member statesto join its free-movement Schengen area as from December 21.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/506736