Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES) to register entry and exit data and refusal of entry data of third country nationals crossing the external borders of the Member States of the European Union and determining the conditions for access to the EES for law enforcement purposes and amending Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 and Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011

In February 2013, the Commission tabled a package of legislative proposals on Smart Borders to modernise the Schengen area’s external border management. The package consisted of three proposals:
(1) a Regulation for an Entry/Exit System (EES) for the recording of information on the time and place of entry and exit of third country nationals entering the Schengen area,
(2) a Regulation for a Registered Traveller Programme (RTP) to allow third country nationals who have been pre-vetted to benefit from facilitation of border checks at the Union external border
(3) a Regulation amending the Schengen Borders Code in order to take into account the existence of the EES and RTP.

During the first examination of the package which was completed in February 2014, the co-legislators voiced technical, financial and operational concerns on certain aspects of the design of the systems. However the preferred policy options proposed in 2013 (i.e. centralised systems based on biometrics) were not questioned. The European Parliament referred the proposal to its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). It did not issue a legislative resolution on the proposals.

In order to further assess the technical, organisational and financial impacts of the proposed policy options, the Commission initiated, with the support of both co-legislators, a so-called ‘proof of concept’ exercise consisting of two stages:
- A Commission-led Technical Study on Smart Borders published in October 2014, and
- A testing phase led by eu-LISA on the impact of the use of various biometric identifiers on the border control processes (hereinafter 'The Pilot') for which a report was published in November 2015.

Based on the findings of the Technical Study, the results of The Pilot, the technical discussions with co-legislators and stakeholders as well as a public consultation, the Commission prepared a detailed Impact Assessment which accompanies this proposal. This Impact Assessment builds on the Impact Assessments accompanying the 2013 proposals, and focuses on elements of the 2013 proposals where modifications are proposed, notably (a) the architecture of the system, (b) biometrics to be used, (c) the use of process facilitators, (d) the retention of data and (e) access by law enforcement authorities.

On the basis of these extensive preparations, the Commission has considered necessary improvements and simplifications to the 2013 proposals. The Commission has decided to:
– revise its 2013 proposal for a Regulation for the establishment of an Entry/Exit System (EES);
– revise its 2013 proposal for a Regulation amending the Schengen Borders Code to integrate the technical changes that result from the new proposal for a Regulation establishing an Entry/Exit System (EES).
– withdraw its 2013 proposal for a Regulation for a Registered Traveller Programme (RTP).

• Primary Source

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)194: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:194:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)114: Detailed explanation of the proposal by chapters and articles http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:114:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)115: Impact assessment report on the establishment of an EU Entry/Exit System http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:115:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)116: Executive summary of the impact assessment http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:116:FIN

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/

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)196: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 as regards the use of the Entry/Exit System http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:196:FIN

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