MEPs delve into the management of Europe’s external borders and the role of the EU Border and Coast Guard Agency. This debate takes place against the backdrop of the EU and its member states continuing to prepare for the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum and, in particular the screening regulation, to improve security checks for persons arriving in the EU irregularly and speed up asylum and return procedures for those not entitled to international protection. opening statement by Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

surveillance of the external borders of the EU (T)

SCHINAS, Margaritis (EPP-DE, EL)

Strengthening the security of Europe’s external borders - need for a comprehensive approach and enhanced Frontex support: opening statement by Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, So honourable Members. The security of Europe's external borders is a key priority for the Commission. It's at the heart of our migration and security policies. It is essential for safeguarding the freedom of movement within the Schengen area, but also it's linked to the way that we want to live, secure and free. I am very proud of what we have collectively managed to achieve in this area during the last five years.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, Over these last five years, our capacity to strengthen our borders has been tested. It has been tested in a way that was unprecedented. It has been tested in Evros, in Lampedusa, in the borders of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania with Belarus. It was tested in Ceuta. It was tested in the Canary Islands. It was tested in the Finnish Russian borders and it was tested in Cyprus in response to all these challenges and difficulties and threats.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, We have acted decisively both on the ground where this crisis happened, but also on the regulatory front, where regulatory improvements were made that would serve many generations to come. Let me start with our decision to adopt the Schengen Borders code that will adopt all these robust checks at our external borders during crisis, such as pandemics or hybrid threats.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, And of course, the migration and Asylum pact. Our flagship regulatory achievement that will reinforce our preparedness to assure that in the future any given situation could be handled by appropriate regulatory response. This will include this new screening regulation, establishing clear and common rules for identifying, registering and assessing the health and security risks of individuals entering the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, A crisis regulation that further strengthens our response and of course, the entry exit system that will track visa exempt and slower safe visa holders. Movements helping US monitors overstays. Following that, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, also known as ETIAS, will pre-screen visa exempt travellers before they enter the Schengen area. Assessing risks related to migration, security and health.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, And only yesterday we adopted the final piece of this overall puzzle the digitalisation of travel documents. This would help us streamline border processes, allowing travellers to submit documents in advance. Facilitating the mobility of people and goods. As a result of all this, our external border could not be just a geographical line. It would be a place where our regulatory might will be evident and will apply.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, When someone arrives at Europe's external borders something must happen. You cannot just crossing and we have now built with the help of this House, this robust, cohesive, holistic regulatory response that would precisely help us to cope and to support this initiative. We also ha.ve provided unprecedented financial aid to our member states. The budget for border management in the European Union has more than tripled over the last three financing periods.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, With EU funding, for instance, we have facilitated the purchase of nearly 1500 pieces of equipment, 145 land transport vehicles, the processing of 168,000 digital visa applications, and we have funded significant investments to make our EU information systems interoperable. That means that we will provide border guards across the European Union in real time with vital information.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, Of course, this is only one part of the EU response. There is the other one, equally important, which is the operational support on the ground with our law enforcement agencies, Frontex and Europol. Frontex is building a standing corp of 10,000 officers to support border management, oversee returns from member states to third countries, and help third countries protect their borders.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, Currently, Frontex has 19 operations ongoing at our external border, with major efforts along the EU external eastern land borders and the Mediterranean Sea. Frontex expansion has been impressive over the last five years and we are ensuring that this growth respects human rights and operations are fully compatible with the model of society we stand for.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, Our president, Ursula von der Leyen, has proposed tripling the standing calls to 30,000 officers as part of the next financial periods. This will enhance our ability to respond to hybrid threats with the active participation we hope, of all our member states. Europol is also playing a key role in that respect. Currently, Europol has deployed experts at our external border in ten of our Member States.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, We have Europol's migrant smuggling centre that supports Member States investigations and increases cooperation among law enforcement agencies that helps them prosecute smugglers and networks. And of course, we need an even stronger role for Europol to combat smuggling. The legislative proposal on the table to enhance Europol support to prevent and combat smuggling should be swiftly adopted.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, And of course, let us not forget the third element of security in our borders, which clearly has to do with the building of constructive, comprehensive, win win partnerships with third countries of origin and transit based on shared interests, and covering a wide area of policy spanning from security, investment, economic cooperation, energy, trade and yes, Erasmus scholarships too.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, We will mobilise everything we have, everything we have to help these countries of origin and transit to provide better conditions for their people, to have better lives there instead of putting their lives in the hands of the smugglers. Positive results are being already evident along the central Mediterranean route, particularly through our cooperation with Tunisia and Egypt.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, The technical dialogue with Libya is also yielding significant results and we are strengthening cooperation with Mauritania and Senegal, providing these countries with resources for rescue at sea and border management. Finally, in the Western Balkans, Frontex is increasingly present through new status agreements with this third countries. This status agreements allow Frontex to deploy border management capabilities on the ground in new key areas of these routes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, And of course, when it comes to fighting smugglers. Last year we launched the Global Alliance to Counter Migrants Smuggling, a key initiative for prevention, response and protection. We now have already concluded this anti-smuggling operational partnerships with Morocco and Tunisia, and we are working on all other routes.

SOUNDBITE (English), Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of promoting our European Way of Life, Honourable Members, let me conclude by saying that this impressive amount of work along both the operational and the regulatory track has made significant progress in securing our borders. Europe's borders are not unguarded, and as we modernise our capacities through digital systems and as we strengthen our partnerships, we at the same time continue to remain vigilant and continue to push for a stronger, more agile response to evolving threats at our external borders. And we, of course, count on the precious help of the European Parliament to support us. Thank you.

Strengthening the security of Europe’s external borders - need for a comprehensive approach and enhanced Frontex support: opening statement by Margaritis SCHINAS, Vice-President of the European Commission

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Strengthening the security of Europe’s external borders: need for a comprehensive approach and enhanced Frontex support