Sarkozy says he will withdraw France from Schengen area

PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Nicolas Sarkozy delivered a stern ultimatum to the European Union at an election rally Sunday, March 11, saying he will withdraw France from the Schengen accords, which allow free circulation within most of the bloc's borders, unless the E.U. hardens its immigration policy.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the incumbent president, who is trailing Socialist rival François Hollande in polls, also said that if re-elected he will demand EU partners pass a "Buy European Act" similar to the "Buy American Act" adopted by the U.S. in 1933, which required the government to prefer U.S.-made products in its purchases. Failing significant progress within the year, France will apply the rule unilaterally, he said.

"I want a political Europe that protects its citizens," Mr. Sarkozy said in the largest rally to date of his campaign, with an estimated 50,000 gathered in a hangar at the Paris fair, close to the city's airport.

The French president, who is hoping to kickstart his flagging re-election campaign, said that unless significant progress is made within twelve months to cut the number of foreigners allowed to enter EU borders, France will leave the Schengen area, a move that would deal a blow to the free circulation of people within the union.

"At a time of economic crisis, if Europe doesn't pick those who can enter its borders, it won't be able to finance its welfare state any longer," he told the rally. "We need a common discipline in border controls...We can't leave the management of migration flows to technocrats and tribunals."

The 1985 Schengen agreement abolished internal border controls within the EU and some non-EU countries, including Switzerland and Iceland, with two EU member states - Ireland and the U.K. - opting out. For international travel, the E.U. works like a single country with external border controls only for travelers going in and out of the area.

Mr. Sarkozy had already called for changes in the Schengen treaty last year when the flow of immigrants from northern Africa had peaked due to political unrest in the region. At the time, Mr. Sarkozy and then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had asked the EU to allow for changes in the free circulation of people within the EU borders following exceptional circumstances, and French police had started checks on train from Italy in search of Tunisian immigrants who had received temporary stay permits from Italian authorities.