Smart Borders: EU Entry/Exit System

‘EU Legislation in Progress’ briefings aim to provide Members of the European Parliament with systematic and automatic analysis on all substantial proposals for EU legislation at every stage of the legislative procedure. Each contains an account of the purpose, content and legal aspects of the legislation proposed, in particular analysing what the legislation would change, as well as any previous legislation and the background. An overview of stakeholders’ views is also provided, as well as the opinions of national parliaments and the two advisory committees.

They are all made publicly available for stakeholders and the public.In anticipation of increased traveller flows and in response to security concerns regarding the control of EU external borders, on 6 April 2016, the European Commission presented a revised proposal for establishing an Entry/Exit System for recording the border-crossings of all non-EU nationals in April 2016.

This proposal builds on the Smart Borders package presented in 2013, which did not secure consensus among the co-legislators and was the subject of additional technical and operational studies completed in 2015. Under the new proposal, the current system of manual stamping of passports would be replaced by automation of certain preparatory border control procedures.

The system would be interconnected with the Visa Information System (VIS) database and used by the same authorities: border control and consular posts. Moreover, it would allow law enforcement authorities to perform restricted queries in the database for criminal identification and intelligence to prevent serious crime and terrorism.

Following a political agreement with the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament was expected to vote on the texts in October 2017.

Authors: Anita Orav and Alessandro D'Alfonso

• Primary Source

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

EP: EPRS: Briefing: EU Legislation in Progress http://epthinktank.eu/eu-legislation-in-progress/

ESO: Background information: Stronger and smarter borders in the EU: Commission proposes to establish an Entry-Exit System http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-stronger-and-smarter-borders-in-the-eu-commission-proposes-to-establish-an-entry-exit-system/

EP: EPRS: Plenary at a Glance, October II, 2017: Smart borders: EU Entry/Exit System http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2017/608760/EPRS_ATA(2017)608760_EN.pdf

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