The European Commission reacted positively Wednesday to a French move to adapt its immigration laws in a bid to avoid legal action over its controversial expulsions of ethnic Roma individuals.
French Immigration Minister Eric Besson told the TV station Public Senat late Tuesday that Paris would draw up the appropriate legislation and have it before parliament as early as December or January.
"It would be very good if the French were to respond positively to the EU commission's ultimatum. Our indication is that this could happen," a European Commission official told the German Press Agency, dpa.
"However, we have not seen a document yet, and the clock is ticking," he added.
In late September, the EU executive gave French authorities until October 15 to present a bill and timetable for the adoption of a law that would fully incorporate the EU's 2004 directive on the free movement of people, which the commission said was breached as Roma expulsions were carried out.
France has repatriated more than 8,000 Roma to Romania and Bulgaria since the beginning of the year. Its policy came under fire from Brussels when it appeared that police had been ordered to target Roma camps as they went about tackling irregular migration.
France's representative in the European Commission, Michel Barnier, said that "it can only be seen as a good thing if (Besson) says that he is prepared to commit France to the full and correct application" of EU laws.
Barnier expressed "the fullest trust in the French authorities' ability to deliver on their commitments," as well as in his EU colleagues' capacity to make "an impartial and objective" evaluation on whether France had done enough to escape EU sanctions.
The commission's 27 members are set to debate the issue later this month, and are required to meet a unanimous decision on how to proceed.
A negative assessment of French efforts would trigger an EU infringement procedure, which could eventually see France having to defend itself before the European Court of Justice and risk incurring a big fine.