06 November 2019
The European Commission has published its Twentieth Progress Report towards an effective and genuine Security Union. One of the key sections concerns "Stronger and smarter information systems for security, border and migration management."
Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.
See: Twentieth Progress Report towards an effective and genuine Security Union (COM 552, 2019, pdf).
This covers:
"The EU has stepped up information exchange, making it easier to tackle identity fraud, strengthening border checks, modernising Europe-wide law enforcement databases, closing information gaps and reinforcing the EU law enforcement agency Europol. Central to this is the interoperability of EU information systems." [emphasis in original]
The deadline depends on:
"Close cooperation between EU agencies, all Member States and Schengen associated countries will be paramount in order to attain the ambitious objective of achieving full interoperability of EU information systems for security, border and migration management by 2020." [emphasis added]
A number of measures have yet to be adopted or implemented. These include:
"Regulation (EU) 2019/1157 (20.6.2019) on strengthening the security of identity cards of Union citizens and of residence documents issued to Union citizens and their family members exercising their right of free movement."
See: Open letter to MEPs: oppose mandatory fingerprinting for national identity cards (Statewatch News)
The report says that:
"the European Parliament and the Council are still to complete the legislative work in this respect. Swift agreement on all pending legislative proposals is essential to secure complete and timely roll-out of interoperability." [emphasis in original]
Then:
"the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, there is a need for technical amendments to the related Regulation to fully set up the system....
Second:
"interinstitutional negotiations are still on-going on the May 2018 proposal to strengthen and upgrade the existing Visa Information System (...) the Commission calls on both co-legislators to swiftly conclude the negotiations."
Next:
"Commission proposal to extend the scope of Eurodac by storing not only the fingerprints and relevant data of asylum applicants and of persons apprehended in connection to an irregular crossing of the external border, but also those of illegally-staying third-country nationals. The proposed changes would also extend the storage period of fingerprints and relevant data of those who enter the EU irregularly."
Finally there is the question of:
"law enforcement access to electronic evidence. As regards the April 2018 legislative proposals to improve cross-border access to electronic evidence in criminal investigations, the European Parliament has yet to adopt its negotiating position before the co-legislators can enter into negotiations."
Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.
Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.