Britain will be asked to accept thousands more refugees as part of Brussels moves towards a single immigration and asylum policy across the EU.
Plans for a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme' will see Britain asked to take in thousands of extra refugees a year from war zones like Somalia and Sudan.
In a bid to reduce public concern about the cost of the project, Britain will be offered €4,000 (£3,500) for every refugee it accepts.
The project, launched by the EU's vice-president Jacques Barrot today, is widely seen as the first part of a Brussels blueprint to roll out a common immigration and asylum policy across the EU.
Later this month the European Commission will publish plans for immigration 'burden sharing', which could see asylum seekers landing in EU countries like Italy and Malta moved to the UK.
The Commission today said this was a 'pressing issue' for the EU.
Draft documents from the European Commission state that the EU's international image is suffering because of the 'relatively low' number of refugees accepted by member states.
Last year the EU accepted 6.7 per cent of the 65,596 refugees who were legally resettled around the world.
The Commission did not set a public target for the new programme today, but a Brussels source said the figure should be 'much closer to 20 per cent'.
Mr Barrot said more than 200,000 refugees were likely to need resettlement next year, mostly from poor countries bordering war zones.
He urged the EU to make itself a 'model of humanity' and demonstrate 'concrete solidarity with third countries hosting large numbers of refugees'.
If the EU were to accept 20 per cent that would equate to 40,000 refugees a year. Britain's share, based on population, would be about 5,300.
Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said it was vital that the UK kept control of the total number of immigrants entering the country, rather than handing power to Brussels.
He said co-operation on dealing with refugees should depend on other EU countries helping to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to Britain.
Mr Green said: 'There is nothing wrong with trying to plan the numbers of successful refugees - anything would be better than the chaos Britain's system has suffered in recent years.
'But Britain could only take part if we had control of the numbers arriving here under the scheme, and if other countries cooperate more in preventing the build-up of asylum seekers at Calais.'
Stephen Booth, of the think tank Open Europe, said handing over control of immigration and asylum policy risked creating a public backlash.
He added: 'Asylum policy is a sensitive issue for the public and national governments therefore need to be clear and open about where EU asylum policy is heading in order to avoid a backlash from their citizens.'
Britain is one of only 10 EU countries to operate a formal refugee resettlement programme.
Over the last five years the UK has accepted 2,500 refugees on top of the number coming in through the wider immigration and asylum system. continues here
Plans for a 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme' will see Britain asked to take in thousands of extra refugees a year from war zones like Somalia and Sudan.
In a bid to reduce public concern about the cost of the project, Britain will be offered €4,000 (£3,500) for every refugee it accepts.
The project, launched by the EU's vice-president Jacques Barrot today, is widely seen as the first part of a Brussels blueprint to roll out a common immigration and asylum policy across the EU.
Later this month the European Commission will publish plans for immigration 'burden sharing', which could see asylum seekers landing in EU countries like Italy and Malta moved to the UK.
The Commission today said this was a 'pressing issue' for the EU.
Draft documents from the European Commission state that the EU's international image is suffering because of the 'relatively low' number of refugees accepted by member states.
Last year the EU accepted 6.7 per cent of the 65,596 refugees who were legally resettled around the world.
The Commission did not set a public target for the new programme today, but a Brussels source said the figure should be 'much closer to 20 per cent'.
Mr Barrot said more than 200,000 refugees were likely to need resettlement next year, mostly from poor countries bordering war zones.
He urged the EU to make itself a 'model of humanity' and demonstrate 'concrete solidarity with third countries hosting large numbers of refugees'.
If the EU were to accept 20 per cent that would equate to 40,000 refugees a year. Britain's share, based on population, would be about 5,300.
Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said it was vital that the UK kept control of the total number of immigrants entering the country, rather than handing power to Brussels.
He said co-operation on dealing with refugees should depend on other EU countries helping to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to Britain.
Mr Green said: 'There is nothing wrong with trying to plan the numbers of successful refugees - anything would be better than the chaos Britain's system has suffered in recent years.
'But Britain could only take part if we had control of the numbers arriving here under the scheme, and if other countries cooperate more in preventing the build-up of asylum seekers at Calais.'
Stephen Booth, of the think tank Open Europe, said handing over control of immigration and asylum policy risked creating a public backlash.
He added: 'Asylum policy is a sensitive issue for the public and national governments therefore need to be clear and open about where EU asylum policy is heading in order to avoid a backlash from their citizens.'
Britain is one of only 10 EU countries to operate a formal refugee resettlement programme.
Over the last five years the UK has accepted 2,500 refugees on top of the number coming in through the wider immigration and asylum system. continues here
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