Smart Borders Package

7.4.2015

Question for oral answer O-000030/2015
to the Commission
Rule 128
Claude Moraes, on behalf of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Commissioner Avramopoulos announced on 3 December 2014 that the Commission’s Smart Borders Package proposals of 2013 would be withdrawn and replaced by new proposals at the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016.

Does the Commission intend to present a single legislative proposal which would be complemented by an amendment to the Schengen Borders Code to take account of the system(s) at the border or would it present two separate proposals which would also be complemented by an amendment to the Schengen Borders Code?

When does the Commission intend to present the announced revised proposals? Will they be accompanied by a new impact assessment?

Does the Commission consider the envisaged entry/exit system and registered traveller programme to be appropriate and adequate responses to the current and future situation at the EU’s external border, given the constant increase in the number of border crossings, and, if so, why?

Does the Commission consider the envisaged entry/exit system to be an appropriate instrument for reducing the number of so-called ‘overstayers’ and, if so, why? What are the Commission’s views as regards access for law enforcement purposes? What are the Commission’s views as to their intended purposes?

Could the Commission outline its main ideas for the revised proposals it intends to propose, including as regards the architecture, biometric identifiers and data retention periods? To what extent may the European Court of Justice’s ruling on data retention impact the proposals as they stand?

What is the Commission’s view regarding upgrading the existing tools to achieve the intended objectives of the entry/exit system and the registered traveller programme and regarding the interoperability and compatibility of various IT systems that already exist with regard to the Smart Borders package?