Strasbourg, 13/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday the European Parliament is expected the approve the report by Hubert Pirker on the protection of the borders between the European Union and the outside world. The main criticism of this largely positive report focuses on the Council's hesitations about setting up a European Border Guard. The Austrian ÖVP MEP "recommends" the setting up of such a Border Guard, make up of specialist units funded in common which, if required and if requested by Member States, could be temporarily placed at the disposal of national authorities to help them in at-risk sections of external borders. The European Commission believes that after strengthening cooperation between national police corps, a European Border Guard should be set up, but the Council only sees the option as an "example" of measures that "could be considered in the long-term".
Apart from this, the report invites the European Parliament to support the Commission and Council's external border control management activities. It broadly supports the Communication on integrated EU external border management unveiled by the Commission in May (see Europe of 6/7 May, p.9) and the External Border Management Action Plan adopted by the Council in June (see Europe of 15 June, p.8).
The Pirker report notes that external borders remain the weak link in the chain of overall internal security systems, asserting that for this reason, the tasks to be carried out along external borders should be redefined in the form of common standards in a manner that matches acquired experience. More specifically, the report highlights the importance of assessing both risks (by Europol) and the implementation of the common border protection manual. In this connection, the report welcomes the fact that the Council has announced plans to review the manual and, in the longer term, to convert the best practice outlined in it into rules.
The report was adopted in December by the Citizens' Freedoms Committee by 22 to 8. It is an own-initiative report outlining MEPs' views and is not binding.