Brussels, 20/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 June, the European Parliament civil liberties committee approved the new Eurosur border monitoring system. This system was agreed by the Council on 30 May last. Eurosur is a communication system for protecting the EU's external borders by identifying, preventing and tackling illegal immigration and cross-border crime, explained a press release. At the request of MEPs, the system will also be used to assist and save the lives of migrants when they are in danger. When EU countries use Eurosur, they will have to respect human rights, particularly the principle of “non-refoulement”, which prohibits returning people to a place where their lives or freedoms may be in danger. “Full compliance with EU fundamental rights standards, including personal data protection, is also vital. Under the agreed text, any exchange of personal data between member states and with third countries via Eurosur should remain an exception and respect data protection laws.”
Eurosur aims to improve the management of the EUis external borders by increasing information exchange among EU member states and with the EU border management agency Frontex. This would include real-time sharing of data and intelligence from various authorities and surveillance tools, such as satellites or ship reporting systems via a protected communication network.
The new rules will apply to the surveillance of the EU's external land and sea borders from 2 December 2013 in all member states with external borders. In the rest of the EU countries it will operate as of 1 December 2014. (SP/transl.fl)