Brussels, 28/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - European Migration and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos stated during the European Parliament plenary session debate on Wednesday 28 October that the European Commission would, at the start of 2016, bring forward a single piece of legislation on “smart borders”, combining an entry-exit system for travellers and a registered traveller programme, rather than two separate instruments.
This new proposal depends on new technologies modernising the work of border agents and will replace the first version presented in 2013 which, it was felt, would be too difficult to implement. Avramopoulos said that the proposal would be accompanied by a specifically targeted amendment of the Schengen borders code.
The current context, with the mass arrival of migrants at the EU's borders and risk of terrorist attacks still deemed to be high, could impinge upon the nature of the smart borders package, making it more an instrument for the management of irregular immigration than one to make life easier for travellers.
The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU stated that the proposal is becoming “urgent in the current context”. Luxembourg's minister Nicolas Schmitt recalled in Strasbourg the call from the European Council of 15 October to make use of “smart” instruments to strengthen Europe's borders. The member states are also generally quite happy to see police forces have access to instruments of this sort, Schmitt said, if it is to prevent acts of terrorism or other serious crimes.
Responding to a question put by the chair of the Parliament's civil liberties committee, Claude Moraes (S&D, UK), Avramopoulos told MEPs that only limited use would be made of biometrics, for example, to speed up the entry into countries for bona fide travellers or to keep tabs on those who stay longer than authorised (“overstayers”). He went as far to suggest that the system could be restricted to use of facial images and finger prints. A pilot project has been set up to test this.
Nor did he rule out the possibility of police forces having access to these entry-exit systems and registered traveller programmes but only under strict conditions. He also gave assurances that the forthcoming proposal will comply with EU Court of Justice case law on data protection and take account of the lessons to be learned from the invalidation of the data retention directive. A number of MEPs, particularly from the GUE/NGL and Greens/EFA Groups, challenged this approach. Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL, France) said that these proposals, which were supposed to “make the EU more attractive” were being used “simply to strengthen borders and prevent migrants”.
The 2013 proposals were for two regulations creating a European registered travellers programme (RTP) and an entry-exit system. The RTP would have provided travellers with an electronic card allowing them to pass an electronic gate at EU airports. The entry-exit system sought to ensure that bona fide travellers had indeed left the country as required, with the replacement of “paper stamping” systems by electronic calculation of length of authorised stay. The estimated cost was close to €1 billion. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)