Alongside its proposal to revise the mandate of Frontex (see EUROPE 13969/1), on Tuesday 27 October the European Commission proposed a regulation to digitalise the management of return, readmission and reintegration cases.
Current procedures remain “fragmented”, with disparate national systems that have limited interoperability. The aim is to build “a common digital backbone, connecting the relevant authorities, processes and tools” to support the new Returns Regulation (see EUROPE 13950/2).
The proposal combines three operational tools:
- national return case management systems (RECAMAS), which each Member State will build using a reference model developed by Frontex. National authorities will be able to retain and use data from return alerts in the Schengen Information System (SIS), once its mandate has been amended, even after the original alert has been deleted.
- an integrated European Readmission Case Management System (iRCMS);
- a Union reintegration case management system (RIAT).
A secure communication portal between national migration authorities, developed by the European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems (eu-LISA), will also be added.
More broadly, the emphasis is on automation: a unique identifier for each national to avoid duplicate records; the option to open return cases automatically when the right to stay expires; real-time monitoring of deadlines; alerts concerning removal decisions and European return orders in the SIS; and even the possible use of artificial intelligence, in accordance with the relevant regulation.
Data protection. Recorded information will be kept for a maximum of 10 years from confirmation of return – or for the full duration of an entry ban, if longer – before being automatically deleted. A specific regime with a shorter retention period applies to Frontex, in accordance with its founding regulation.
For readmission procedures, secure exchanges with partner third countries are envisaged via Frontex, but those countries will not have general access to the iRCMS: the information shared will be strictly limited to each individual case.
Budget. Estimated cost of the project: €224.4 million over 2028-2034, subject to negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework. This includes €156 million for Frontex, €65.3 million for eu-LISA and €3 million for the Commission’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. Member States will be able to finance their RECAMAS through the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.
In the longer term, the Commission sees the project as “the first step towards a comprehensive, integrated and digitalised EU migration management system”, which could be extended to asylum procedures.
The full proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/o4x (Original version in French by Justine Manaud)