France

EU justice chief Viviane Reding will recommend that the European Commission drop a threat of legal action against France over its Roma crackdown after the French government vowed to change national legislation, an EU official has said.

France has told the European Commission it is willing to amend some laws in order to fall in line with EU directives on free movement within the 27-member bloc as it seeks to avoid legal action over its controversial expulsion of Roma migrants.

In the Parisian suburb of Montreuil, 14 Roma men were ordered to leave French territory after a police roundup in August. Lawyers say their case proves the government is behind a discriminatory and illegal policy of expulsions.

France will incorporate EU laws on migration in its new immigration policies, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said on Wednesday, after Brussels raised stringent objections to the expulsion of hundreds of illegal Roma migrants from France.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has met with Pope Benedict XVI amid mounting international criticism, including from the Vatican, of France's crackdown on Roma (Gypsy) travellers.

A human rights group has accused French police of taking DNA samples of Roma as condemnation of France’s crackdown on illegal traveller camps intensifies.

EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has told FRANCE 24 that Brussels will launch legal proceedings against France for breaching EU rules on freedom of movement during the country’s much criticised crackdown on Roma communities.

The European Commission has postponed an announcement on possible legal action against France over its expulsion of Roma migrants, saying "no decision has been taken".

France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, Tuesday debated a bill proposed by French Immigration Minister Eric Besson (photo) that would strengthen the government’s hand against immigrant and travelling communities.

Roma groups threatened Saturday to take France to the European Court of Justice for the forced deportation of hundreds of Roma and called on European leaders "to put the French president in his place" following EU criticism of the expulsions.