The Schengen Entry/Exit System: biometrics to facilitate smart borders

In view of migratory pressures and terrorist attacks suffered by Europe over the last few years, border management has become a priority for the European Commission.

​It is true that the Visa Information System (VIS) has been operational since 2015 in Member State consulates, and its consultation is now compulsory for visa-holders entering the Schengen area.

In addition, since February 2013, the concept of Smart Borders has been introduced. It's an ambitious package of legislative measures drawn up in consultation with the European Parliament.

The Entry/Exit System, in particular, will create a unified information system for recording data on the entry and exit movements of short-stay Third Country Nationals crossing the external borders of the EU.

The new Entry Exit System to be operational in 2020
Adopted and then signed on 30 November 2017 by the European Council, it will be used in conjunction with the European Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive which, from 25 May 2018, will collect data on air passengers.

Based on the principle that the majority of visitors are "bona fide", the EES will radically change the Schengen Borders Code with the double objective of:

- making borders smart by automating checks and controls on legitimate visitors while strengthening methods for combating irregular migration
- creating a central register of cross-border movements.

In other words, external border management is being modernized.

Because it improves the quality and efficiency of checks and controls in the Schengen area, the common database of the EES should help to reinforce homeland security and the fight against terrorism and serious crime.

Systematic identification of people 'overstaying' in the Schengen area is one of its major challenges.

We will see why facial biometrics in particular is the technical winner of the EES initiative. And no longer just in airports, as is currently the case but also in all ports of entry.

In this web report, we will examine the following six topics:

- What the Entry Exit System is
- How the 2006 Schengen Borders Code is impacted
- How its access is highly regulated
- Why facial biometrics becomes key for the EES
- How EES contributes to the fight against identity fraud
- Where Gemalto fits in the picture.

Let's dig in.

 

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