The European Union will take ''into serious consideration'' a formal request by Italy that the EU address the immigration emergency in the Mediterranean at the June EU summit, sources close to the Czech duty presidency said on Friday.
The agenda of the June 18-9 European Council will be drawn up by the Czech presidency, which has acknowledged that the immigration issue ''is very serious'', the sources said.
The priority issues on the summit agenda will be the designation of the president of the European Commission, the evaluation of new EU watchdog rules on financial markets and a new Irish referendum on the ratification of the Lisbon treaty.
Italy's ambassador to the EU, Ferdinando Nelli Feroci, said on Friday that Malta, Greece and Cyprus - other Mediterranean countries facing the brunt of the emergency - are backing Italy's request.
Italy also has the support of European Commission Deputy President Jacques Barrot, said Feroci.
The issue, with backing from Spain and Belgium, will also be addressed at a foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday.
Italy is determined to convince its partners that the emergency is ''a European problem'' and the EU needs to apply the principle of solidarity and share hospitality costs for immigrants who have been granted refugee status.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said this week that Italy will ask the European Commission to help it deal with the immigration issue by evaluating its two-pronged suggestion: the principle of burden sharing so that the 27 EU members would agree to provide hospitality for migrants arriving here; and reinforcing the role of its border agency Frontex by making it responsible for the creation and management of a European network of identification centres.
