The EU’s Home Affairs Ministers are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday 5 March to approve a draft regulation on the gradual implementation of the EU’s Entry/Exit System, which will record the entry, exit and refusal of entry of third-country nationals crossing the EU’s external borders for a short stay.
The meeting will also focus on the proper functioning of the Schengen area and the external dimension of migration. In particular, the situation in Syria will be discussed, against the backdrop of the issue of the return of people who pose a risk to the security of the EU.
While the Commission is due to present its new ideas on the return of illegal immigrants to the EU next week in Strasbourg, no substantive discussion is expected on return hubs, for example. The discussion on the Schengen area will nevertheless touch on return policy, but will focus on the current legislative framework, according to a diplomatic source.
The ministers will thus “exchange views on the implementation of the priorities of the Schengen Council cycle. The priority to be examined at this EU Council meeting is improving the efficiency of return systems. Ministers are expected to tackle challenges – such as a lack of resources, a lack of cooperation by countries of origin and transit and the insufficient use by member states of information exchange tools (e.g. SIS) – and debate how the EU can support member states in addressing them”, says the EU Council in a presentation note.
They will also be invited to adopt a decision setting out recommendations based on the 2024 thematic Schengen evaluation on returns. These recommendations propose solutions to address the main bottlenecks identified in the thematic evaluations, focusing on the key stage of the return process. They emphasise the importance of adequate and proactive planning of resources, efficient coordination and coherence of actors and procedures at both national and European levels.
Entry/Exit. Under the new EES system, border officers will scan the fingerprints or take a photo of those crossing the border for the first time and record this information in a digital file.
The system was due to come into force last November, after already three years of postponement, but three Member States - France, Germany and the Netherlands - have again indicated that they are not ready. At the end of 2024, the Commission proposed a six-month pilot phase for gradual implementation in a new draft regulation.
The compromise approved on 26 February by the Member States within the Committee of Permanent Representatives and which will be submitted to the ministers stipulates that “the delay in applying the EES in full should be as limited as possible”.
The text also specifies that declarations of intent to apply the ESS already submitted remain valid, and does not extend the 180-day period proposed for the progressive start-up of operations.
While confirming that Member States wishing to apply the EES fully from the first day of the period of progressive start of operations can do so, maintaining minimum common milestones to ensure the EES is rolled out steadily during that period.
In that context, the compromise text also clarifies that Member States making use of the progressive start of operations can start operating the EES in one or some lane(s) of a border crossing point.
According to the diplomatic source, Member States wishing to start applying the EES now can do so, while all other Member States should have launched the system “in the autumn”.
The compromise text also simplifies Member States’ reporting obligations by enabling them to focus on any deviation from their roll-out plan.
Other topics. The ministers will review the fight against organised crime and drug trafficking. For the third year running, the working lunch will be attended by the security ministers of the 16 countries that make up the Latin-American Internal Security Committee (CLASI). A new joint EU-CLASI declaration and a roadmap to implement the priorities for operational cooperation in 2025-2026 will be approved.
The Commission will also give an update on the implementation of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’ and present its recent action plan on the security of submarine cables.
Link to general approach on the Entry/Exit System: https://aeur.eu/f/fq2 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)