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Europe's five biggest economies are discussing plans for stopping illegal immigration, including fingerprinting of visa applicants and tougher screening at airports.
One proposal is for the use of fingerprints for all visa applicants coming from countries with a record of high rates of illegal migration, a scheme already under way in Britain and France.
Fingerprints could then be used as proof of identity to secure the removal of those who come to Europe illegally or overstay on their visa.
Charles Clarke, Britain's home secretary, will also propose that the so-called G5 countries share the cost of employing "airport liaison officers" in third countries to help airline staff identify those travelling on illegal papers.
A British spokesman said the UK already employed 27 such staff, who had stopped 30,000 passengers with invalid papers from embarking on flights to the UK in 2004.
Another proposal is the wider use of document copying at airports of departure; some migrants destroy their papers on their flight to Europe, making it impossible for immigration officers to ascertain their identity.
A fourth idea is to link the award of visas to third countries to a willingness of those countries to accept back deported migrants.
