The Stockholm programme makes provision for setting up, by 2014 or 2015, an electronic system that records entries to and exits from the EU of third-country nationals. In parallel with this security measure, the European Union intends to put in place a system for swift registration of third-country nationals who travel frequently to the Union.

The idea of a border entry and exit registration system is not new. It was presented in the European Commission’s communication of 18 February 2008 on the future development of an integrated European border management system for the 21st century. This practice, which aims to obtain better information on third-country nationals entering or exiting the Schengen area, responds first and foremost to the Commission’s objective of ensuring that Schengen remains an area without borders within which citizens and travellers can circulate securely. According to a Commission official, who preferred to remain anonymous, the measure also aims to combat illegal immigration, since several studies show that most illegal immigrants enter the territory legally.

The idea is to set up a system that records the place and date of entry and exit of third-country nationals admitted for a short stay (under three months). It will operate from the technical platform being developed for the Visa Information System (VIS) and the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), which is supposed to be up and running by the end of 2010. It will therefore use VIS data for nationals required to present a visa. For travellers exempted from the visa obligation, their biometric data will be registered upon entry to or exit from a member state.

To counter-balance the law-and-order aspect of this practice, the European Union proposes to set up simultaneously a system to facilitate extra-Schengen border crossings at EU level. With the aim of facilitating the process for frequent travellers, the idea is to develop a system for the registration of travellers who have already been through a clearance process successfully. This policy of targeted visa exemption is already being implemented in the Netherlands (the FLUX programme with the United States), France (PARAFEX system) and Germany (ABG system). Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Ukraine also plan to introduce it. An informed source commented that certain provisions of the border code will have to be amended to create conditions allowing the member states to set up similar national programmes.

The EU proposes to set up simultaneously a system to facilitate extra-Schengen border crossings at EU level