On Thursday 2 March, the Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) ratified the Council of the EU position on the entry/exit system or smart border system that is due to register all travellers crossing the EU’s external borders.
It is expected to replace passport stamps with an electronic system that stores travellers’ data, in order to facilitate swift border passage, whilst making it easier to detect people exceeding the validity of their visas or who present false documents or bogus identities.
The Council position does not currently include the proposal put forward by countries like France and Germany to also include European nationals in this system. The two countries wanted to use the system as an additional tool to track foreign combatants returning to the EU.
The European Parliament adopted its position on 24 February and highlighted the need to respect the objectives included in the system and the objectives on data protection. It did not introduce a reference to EU nationals either. The position adopted by Coreper now means that negotiations with Parliament can begin. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)