Thursday

30th Nov 2023

MEPs approve EU border surveillance system

  • The UN says over 30,000 migrants attempted to enter Italy by sea in 2013 (Photo: Paul Keller)

MEPs on Thursday (10 October) gave the green light to a new European Border Surveillance system, Eurosur, due to go live early in December.

The system is meant to co-ordinate border surveillance among member states through so-called national co-ordination centres.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Each contact point would feed near-live data streams directly to the EU border agency, Frontex.

Frontex in turn would then issue alerts when necessary.

The European Commission says the system is needed to better inform national border control authorities of attempts by people to cross the Mediterranean.

Thousands are estimated to have died in recent years as they seek to come to Europe. Last year alone, over 1,500 are known to have perished or gone missing, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last week, around 300 died a kilometre off the Italian island of Lampedusa when their boat caught fire and sunk.

Critics say the real purpose behind EU border surveillance plans is to stop the flow of irregular migrants and asylum seekers from ever reaching the coastlines in the first place. And that saving lives is secondary.

The current Eurosur text puts emphasis on preventing irregular migration but adds that it also should "contribute" to the protection and saving of lives at sea.

The Greens, who campaigned for a stronger emphasis on saving lives, say this is not enough.

“The clear purpose of Eurosur is fighting irregular migration,” German Green Ska Keller told this website on Wednesday (9 October).

She pointed out that the regulation says member states can obtain additional "capacities" to fight irregular migration but not to save lives.

“Co-operation only happens for fighting irregular migration, not for saving lives at sea,” she said.

The policy provides no requirement for member states to take proactive steps to improve the rescue of shipwrecked refugees.

She noted that the Mediterranean already ranks amongst the world’s most watched seas.

Keller says the EU needs to allow people to enter legally with a humanitarian visa in order to stop the trafficking and deaths.

“It’s astonishing that Europe still doesn’t have any legal ways for normal immigration, you only have the blue card for the highly qualified,” she noted.

The parliament’s lead negotiation on Eurosur, Dutch liberal Jan Mulder, called the Green’s amendments "superfluous."

“Nobody is against it [saving lives]. It is in several places in the text,” he told reporters in Strasbourg.

A clause added in the text will also allow non-Schengen members UK and Ireland to participate.

He noted that it would still be up to member states to carry out the rescue operations.

Other EU agencies like the European Maritime Safety Agency would also feed Frontex data on any suspicious activities, he said.

Such agencies, Frontex told EUobserver, already provide them with data feeds as a sort of moral obligation. A border control plane that spots a boat dumping oil into the sea, for instance, is not mandated to alert it but will.

Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland will start using Eurosur on 2 December 2013.

Other member states will follow suit on 1 December 2014.

Orban's sovereignty bill seen as fresh attack on rule of law

Hungary's new sovereignty law has been criticised by the opposition as 'another dark milestone' for the country's democratic values and the rule of law — and it could bring yet another clash between Budapest and Brussels.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. EU offers Turkey upgrade, as Sweden nears Nato entry
  2. Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog
  3. Finland's closure of Russia border likely violates asylum law
  4. The EU's 'no added sugars' fruit-juice label sleight-of-hand
  5. EU belittles Russia's Lavrov on way to Skopje talks
  6. Member states stall on EU ban on forced-labour products
  7. EU calls for increased fuel supplies into Gaza
  8. People-smuggling profits at historic high, EU concedes

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  2. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  4. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  5. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  2. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  4. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  5. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  6. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us