(fra Kommisjonsforslaget)

Reasons and objectives

The Commission Political Guidelines 2024-2029 emphasise the need to ensure a complete and fully functioning Schengen area without control at internal borders through more secure external borders, prioritising security, migration management and efficiency. European Integrated Border Management lies at the centre of these efforts, ensuring consistency between interconnected policy areas, including borders, returns and surveillance, as well as between Frontex and responsible national authorities to manage the EU external borders. In terms of implementation, the Schengen governance framework, supported by the Schengen evaluations, provides political and strategic steer to the development of the Schengen area, ensuring that key initiatives, such as the interoperability of IT systems, and the relevant rules are implemented and that systematic deficits are identified and remedied. This should foster a strong sense of shared responsibility and mutual trust among the Member States and Schengen Associated Countries.

Europe’s geopolitical context has significantly changed, profoundly affecting the Union’s external border management. The rise of hybrid and other security threats including the weaponisation of migration give additional urgency to protect the external border. Meanwhile, irregular migration continues to be a major factor, highlighting the need to ensure effective cooperation with non-EU countries combined with comprehensive partnerships with countries of origin and transit supported through Regulation (EU) […] [Global Europe]. Migrant smuggling is a profitable business for criminal networks with smugglers using land, sea and air routes to facilitate irregular migration both into and within the European Union. It is increasingly associated with serious human rights violations and deaths, in particular when it occurs by sea. The loss of migrants' lives at the hands of smugglers in the Mediterranean Sea stresses the acute need to tackle migrant smuggling, using all the legal, operational, and administrative levers available.

Member States need to be able to rapidly and effectively respond to developments and receive Union support for that purpose.

It is essential to ensure the development and secure operation and maintenance of large-scale IT systems pursuant to Union law in the area of border management, namely the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS), Eurodac, the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (EITAS), including their interoperability, and the communication infrastructure. The instrument should also contribute to actions to enhance data quality and the provision of information.

Union support should also be available to Member States to establish the necessary expertise and operational capacity to implement the relevant elements of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, namely the Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 1 (‘Screening’ Regulation) which contributes to efficient border management.

Both EU citizens and non-EU citizens are subject to systematic checks when crossing the EU's external borders. With almost 600 million crossings recorded in 2023 only, and the number of crossings expected to continue to rise in the coming years, there is a clear need to have checks carried out swiftly and efficiently, with the help of IT systems while at the same time maintaining a high level of security, ensuring that each and every traveller is checked.

Member States should work in tight cooperation with the relevant EU agencies, including Frontex and eu-LISA, which should provide the necessary technical expertise and technological means for surveillance and situational awareness. In broader terms, relevant Union bodies, offices and agencies should be involved by the Commission in relevant activities aiming to ensure that the measures supported by the Union comply with the relevant Union acquis and agreed Union priorities.

A strong EU Visa Policy is also key to better secure borders and manage migration. Union support should particularly help Member States improve the efficiency of visa processing and prevent abuse of the Union’s visa regime. Union support is needed as regards the digitalisation of visa processing, as well improving as the coverage of consular services across the world and the service to applicants.

The proposal aims to address the need for greater flexibility in the management of the Union support, including a stronger performance orientation, as well as enhanced simplification for all actors involved in its implementation. For this, tight complementarity is enforced with the proposal for a Regulation (EU) […] establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security, introducing new mechanisms for the allocation of funding for shared, direct and indirect management. As challenges in the area of border management and migration are constantly evolving, there is also a need to respond to pressing needs and changes in policy and Union priorities, address the deficiencies identified through Schengen evaluations and the Frontex vulnerability assessment and to steer funding towards actions with a high level of Union added value, in particular through an EU Facility offering flexibility in the management of the Union support.

The present proposal, together with the proposal for a Regulation establishing the Union support for Asylum, Migration and Integration and the proposal for a Regulation establishing the Union Support for internal security, provide the specific legal framework for the Union action in the areas of European integrated border management at the external borders, well-functioning Schengen area and European visa policy, efficient management of migration flows and internal security, These three Regulations complement each other and contribute to the objectives of and complement the Regulation (EU) […] establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security, through which they will be implemented.

The proposed Regulation builds on the Regulation (EU) 2021/1148 2 while taking into account new policy developments and the need to provide an agile response to evolving challenges concerning European integrated border management, including the well-functioning of the Schengen area, and the EU visa policy.