The migration crisis is changing the EU's approach to passport control
As reported by Gazeta.Ru, the European Commission has prepared a number of proposals for reforming migration policy. According to documents published on April 6, significant changes will affect two processes: the entry into the EU of migrants applying for refugee status, and the registration of third-country nationals entering European territory with a short-term visa (which allows them to stay for a total of up to 90 days every six months).
These proposals are to be discussed by other EU governing institutions as well as authorized representatives of EU member states. Only after that can the reform project be adopted for implementation. The European Commission has not yet set specific dates, as 'it depends on procedures within individual European states'.
As Olga Gulina, director of the German Institute for Migration Policy, told Gazeta.Ru, the need to improve border rules has been mentioned repeatedly. The procedure for obtaining an EU Schengen visa changed last year, and now includes providing fingerprints. 'Speaking of migrants, it is well known that many of them destroy their passports before entering the EU,' Gulina added. 'Therefore, European authorities have long been collecting as much biometric information as possible from these people.'
The EU's determination to accelerate border rule reform was driven by the terrorist attacks in Brussels on March 22, which sparked a wave of outrage among the local public. The outrage concerned not only the problem of migration and ethnic communities in the EU, but also the inaction of local authorities.
'On April 4, the EU border security agency Frontex published a report that claimed a direct link between the increase in migration flow to the EU and the escalation of the terrorist threat,' Olga Gulina said. On this basis, the European Commission prepared new proposals that will affect not only migrants but also foreign citizens of other categories entering the European Union.
Passport stamps and photo documents are too easy to forge with current technical capabilities, the European Commission document states. Stamps are proposed to be abolished. Instead, terminals should be installed at all EU border checkpoints that will allow foreign citizens entering the country to complete border crossing with minimal assistance from a border officer. To speed up inspection and document processing, the main role will be played not by the border guard but by the machine. The European Commission proposes to scan everything – passport data, visa and biometrics. This will be checked against information in the common database of European border services. Based on this, a decision will be made on the person's right to enter.
The name of the centralized visa check system is the Exit-Entry System (EES). As stated by European Commission spokesman Tim McPhie, the new system proposed by the European Commission is unlikely to simplify the visa application process at EU consulates abroad. A passport will still be required to enter EU territory. Meanwhile, European authorities expect the automated system to significantly reduce waiting times at border control.
The main issue is the right to personal data protection. According to the European Commission, EU authorities need to discuss in detail how the proposed EES system will affect the freedoms guaranteed to everyone. It is already clear that access to EES data will be given to Western law enforcement agencies, including Europol. Meanwhile, the new border rules will make it much more effective to fight fake documents used by human traffickers and terrorists, the European Commission document states.
In addition to the idea of creating the EES, it proposes significant changes in the approach to migrants. Most importantly, it is a revision of the Dublin rules, according to which a request for refugee status can only be considered in the EU country where the migrant first arrived. Now it is proposed to distribute refugees among European countries even before deciding their legal status.
In addition, there is an idea to develop rules that would prevent migrants from leaving the EU country to which they were assigned. Before deciding which country to send a refugee, the EU will consider the structure of the local economy as well as the migrant's education and work experience.
All this is done to relieve pressure on Greece and Italy, through which the main flow of people from the Middle East and North Africa passes. Local border services are unable to process all applicants at once. Therefore, camps are formed here for tens of thousands of refugees who, until the completion of legal procedures, have no right to either leave Europe or enter it.
Last Monday, the first ships with deported refugees left Greece for Turkey. At the end of March, the EU and Ankara reached an agreement under which Turkish authorities return to their territory all migrants who arrived in Europe illegally. For each illegal migrant, the EU takes a processed migrant from Turkish refugee camps. This measure, according to official Brussels, will reduce the migration flow to the European Union.
In 2015, over 1.2 million migrants entered the EU. Most of them settled in Germany. Currently, the number of refugees in this country alone is estimated at about 1 million people.