Will UK follow as Brussels backs Italian law to kick out 'undesirables'?

The European Commission said premier Romano Prodi's government was within its rights to expel anyone suspected of being a "threat to public safety".

The backing for Italy will pile more pressure on the authorities in Britain to act against foreign nationals who commit serious crimes.

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The Italian legislation, prompted by rising public anger at crimes committed by Romanian migrants, allows a judge to approve and sign an expulsion order against those who police say are a threat.

No proof of a criminal record is necessary and neither is a trial. There is no appeal.

Previously, EU citizens could be deported to their own countries only if they posed a threat to the state - usually interpreted as a terrorist threat.

Italy has changed its law to widen the scope enormously so that, potentially, thousands of undesirables could be quickly kicked out.

There had been speculation that the law would fall foul of EU rules guaranteeing freedom of movement for all its citizens within the bloc.

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But the commission only cautioned against the laws being used to discriminate against any particular nationality or group.

EU justice and home affairs spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing warned: "The measures must be targeted individually, and every case will have to be assessed individually."

The backing for Italy will pile more pressure on Britain's Immigration minister Liam Byrne, who has faced criticism for failing to act on his promise to introduce laws to "automatically deport" foreign nationals who commit major crimes.

Last night the Home Office said it was studying the Italian law and the EU response.

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A spokesman said more than 300 EU citizens had been deported from Britain for committing crimes in the year to last April.

The Border and Immigration Agency considers deporting those who are jailed for two years or more, with officials taking into account how long a person has lived in Britain, the seriousness of the crime, and their likelihood of re-offending.

Philip Davies, a Tory backbencher, said: "If the European Commission has ruled that it is perfectly acceptable to kick out people the police suspect are up to no good, then our Government needs to follow Italy's lead and introduce it here."

A string of savage crimes in Italy have been committed by Romanian immigrants who now number around 560,000 or one per cent of the population. They lead the statistics for murders, robberies and sexual violence by immigrants.

The tensions have led to a number of vigilante attacks on Romanians.

Without hours of the law becoming active, Italian police began the round-up of "undesirables".

Romania's prime minister Calin Tariceanu said the laws were xenophobic.