Businesses leaders across Europe caught employing illegal immigrants could face time in jail, under proposals due to be announced by the European Union.
 Twenty-one cockle pickers drowned off the UK's Morecambe Bay in 2004 | The European Commission also wants to increase the number of police raids on companies suspected of breaking rules. As much as 16% of Europe's business is done off the books, according to the Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini. Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be doing jobs without the necessary paperwork across Europe. But illegal workers become more than just statistics when things go wrong. Three years ago, 21 Chinese immigrants lost their lives at Morecambe Bay in the north of England. Detection rates They were gathering shellfish on the mudflats for an illegal gang master but the tide came in suddenly and they drowned. There is little doubt why illegal workers are attractive for many companies - they earn a fraction of the regular wages and the penalties in many parts of Europe for many companies which are caught breaking the rules are not severe. So the European Commission wants to see much stiffer punishments - including prison sentences - and much heavier financial penalties for big companies. But it may face resistance from some member states as traditionally the EU does not interfere with matters of criminal law. The other big change may be detection rates with the European Commission calling for a five-fold increase in the number of police raids on companies suspected of breaking the rules. | 
