A/HRC/23/46
73.
The purpose of the legislative proposal is to improve the situational awareness and
reaction capability of Member States and Frontex when preventing irregular migration and
cross-border crime at the external land and maritime borders (Art 1). This shall be done by
establishing a common framework (Art 4), with clear responsibilities and competencies for
the national coordination centres for border surveillance in the Member States (Art 5) and
Frontex (Art 6), which form the backbone of EUROSUR. These centres, which shall ensure
an effective and efficient management of resources and personnel at national level, and
Frontex shall communicate with each other via the communication network (Article 7),
which would allow to exchange both non-classified sensitive as well as classified
information. The cooperation and information exchange between the national coordination
centres and Frontex is done via “situational pictures” (Art 8), which shall be established at
national (Art 9) and European level (Art 10) as well as for the pre-frontier area (Art 11).
Member States and Frontex shall comply with fundamental rights, including data protection
requirements, when applying the Regulation (Art 2.3).
74.
As regards the cooperation with neighbouring third countries, EUROSUR shall be
interlinked with the regional networks set up by Member States with neighbouring third
countries in the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and around the Canary Islands. In addition, a
regional network shall be set up with northern African countries in the Mediterranean Sea.
The exchange of information which a third country could use to identify persons or groups
of persons who are under a serious risk of being subjected to torture, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment or any other violation of fundamental rights, shall be
prohibited (Article 18.2).
75.
The use of drones for border surveillance, which was originally proposed, is not an
option as long as drones are not allowed to fly in civil airspace, which will still take several
years to be accomplished.
76.
Member States and Frontex are currently developing, implementing and testing the
different components with a view to making EUROSUR operational as of October 2013.
The total costs for EUROSUR for the period 2014-2020 have been estimated to amount to
244 million Euros.
5.
The “Smart Borders” Package
77.
In its Communication of 13 February 2008 preparing the next steps in border
management in the European Union, the Commission suggested the establishment of a
Registered Traveller Programme (RTP) for pre-vetted, frequent third country travellers in
order to allow for facilitated border crossings. The Commission also suggested the
establishment of an entry/exit system (EES), entailing the electronic register of the dates
and places of entry and exit of each third country national admitted for a short stay. The
proposals were endorsed in the Stockholm Programme in December 2009.
78.
A discussion was launched in a 2011 Communication between EU institutions and
authorities about the implementation of new systems, in light of their added value, their
technological and data protection implications, and their costs. Following up on this, on 28
February 2013, the Commission proposed a ‘smart borders package’ to speed-up, facilitate
and reinforce border check procedures for foreigners travelling to the EU. The package
consists of a Registered Traveller Programme and an Entry/Exit System, aimed at
simplifying life for frequent third country travellers at the Schengen external borders and
enhancing EU border security.
79.
The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
establishing a Registered Traveller Programme (RTP) (COM(2013) 97 final), provides that
frequent travellers from third countries would be allowed to enter the EU using simplified
border checks, subject to pre-screening and vetting. The RTP will make use of automated
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