In recent times, the European Union, which now stands with the EU acronym, is strongly striving to counter international terrorism, particularly against those EU Member States leaving their country of origin from Europe to Syria and Iraq to enroll in ISIS or Islamic state, so much so that foreign terrorist fighters and even solitary wolves.
In fact, on 16 February 2017, Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the EU Parliament and of the European Council was adopted, establishing a Union code relating to the regime for crossing borders by persons (Schengen border code) as regards the strengthening of verifications in the databases relevant to the external borders, according to which each citizen of one of the EU Member States and of non-EU countries entering or leaving the EU context will have to systematically undergo to due checks and verifications through the consultation of databases. It should also be noted that the new provisions had been negotiated by negotiators from the EU Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers in December of the 2016.
The aim of this regulation is to ensure that EU external borders are protected and this indicates the need to build a strong pillar against the increasingly incensed phenomenon of terrorism on the European continent, as well as to preserve the right to life.
This new regulation, which modifies the Schengen Frontier Code, established by Regulation (EC) No. 562 / 2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 (a Community Code on the Transboundary System for Persons), was submitted by the EU Commission in December of 2015. It establishes the obligation for Member States to carry out systematic checks on every individual crossing the EU's external borders by consulting the databases of stolen or lost documents of the SIS (Schengen Information System, which aims to ensure a high level of security within the EU's area of freedom, security and justice) and other European databases. Checks must be compulsory at each EU frontier, as well as at the air, sea and land borders both in and out.
This regulation aims to be a European legislative instrument to respond to the threats of international terrorism, which has hit some European cities like Brussels, Paris and Berlin, to face the problem of foreign terrorist fighters, referring to those citizens who also have the European passport that decide to join terrorist movements in the conflict area, such as the ISIS present in the Syrian and Iraqi territories.
Should these systematic checks be slowed down on border traffic by land or sea, EU Member States can take the decision to carry out only targeted checks, provided that an examination and a risk assessment highlights the fact that this would pose no threat to internal security. As for individuals who do not undergo a targeted check, they should at least undergo a normal check to verify that their travel documents are regular and valid and to determine their identity.
Another key issue concerns air borders, where each EU Member State can make use of targeted checks for a transitional period of six months from the entry into force of the new regulation. This time frame may be extended for a maximum of eighteen months in exceptional cases, in the event that the airports lacked facilities to perform or had to perform systematic checks on the data base and needed more time to adapt. Finally, the provisions contained in the regulation will be implemented immediately and, interestingly, simultaneously.
(photo: police nationale)
