Smart Borders: EU Entry/Exit System

Briefing 12-01-2018

In anticipation of increased traveller flows and in response to security concerns regarding the control of EU external borders, on 6 April 2016, the Commission presented revised proposals for establishing an Entry/Exit System for recording the border-crossings of all non-EU nationals. These build on the Smart Borders package presented in 2013, which did not secure consensus among the co-legislators and was the subject of additional technical and operational studies completed in 2015. The current system of manual stamping of passports would be replaced by automation of certain preparatory border control procedures. The system would be interconnected with the Visa Information System (VIS) database and used by the same authorities: border control and consular posts. Moreover, it would allow law enforcement authorities to perform restricted queries in the database for criminal identification and intelligence to prevent serious crime and terrorism. The two regulations were signed on 30 November 2017, and the Entry/Exit System is due to become fully functional by 2020 at the latest.