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New plan for controlling EU borders
14.02.2008, 10:18
The European Commission on 13th February launched a
legislative process aimed at tightening up controls on who enters and leaves
the 27-nation bloc. As EU home affairs commissioner Franco Frattini said, this
package, containing three new proposals, designs a completely new way of controlling
EU borders.
They include an entry/exit register of non-European visitors, a European Border
Surveillance System designed to detect those who enter the bloc between border
crossing points as well as better use of the EU's border control agency,
Frontex.
According to Mr Frattini, "the most advanced technology" will be used
to make sure bona fide travellers continue to have access to the Schengen
passport-free area but under tougher security conditions.
"We don't have an alternative. It's because of terrorist threats,
criminality, paedophile networks. We cannot have them using better technology
than police", the Italian commissioner said.
The "most ambitious" of Brussels' plans is the proposal to establish
an electronic register, designed to monitor all non-EU nationals admitted to
the Schengen zone, starting from 2015.
The system would record information on the time and place of a traveller's
entry as well as the length of stay authorised. It would also automatically
alert competent authorities, should a person be identified as over staying
their time.
According to commission data, approximately 300 million people enter or leave
the European Union each year - making the bloc the world's most popular tourist
destination. Some 140 million of these crossings are made by non-EU citizens.
Brussels argues that thousands of foreigners currently overstay their visa, but
the union has no tools for identifying them.
In 2006, there were up to eight million illegal immigrants within EU territory.
Generally, over half of them tends to enter Europe legally, but become illegal
by overstaying their right to stay.
Under Mr Frattini's proposal, all third-country visitors requiring a visa to
enter the EU will have to provide their biometric data as part of their visa
application, while those who don't need a visa will be checked on arrival.
Border-crossing points should be equipped with new biometric technology such as
eye scanners to allow automated and more accurate identity verification.
The commission has also mooted the possibility of setting up a system that
requires non-EU travellers to obtain an electronic authorisation to travel
before they leave for Europe - a system already in place in Australia.
Human rights groups as well as some EU parliamentarians have already questioned
the plans from a right to privacy point of view.
Source: EUobserver.com