The rules regarding people entering the Schengen zone are in urgent need of updating due to safety concerns as well as an increase in the number of travellers in recent years. MEPs vote on the proposals during the plenary session in Strasbourg on 25 October.
The advantages of the new system
The proposed new system would lead to people from outside the EU having information on their entry, exit and refusal of entry registered when they travel to and from the EU. This would apply regardless of whether they need a visa or not.
It would both strengthen and speed up border checks as it would replace stamping passports with an electronic system that stores data on travellers in order to faciliate fast crossing, while making easier to spot when fake identities are being used or track people staying longer than they are alllowed to. Currently travellers are only alllowed to stay 90 days in any 180-day period in the Schengen zone.
Spanish EPP member Agustín Díaz De Mera García Consuegra, the MEP in charging of steering the new rules through Parliament, said the new system could also help to identify terrorists: “One method is for authorities and state security to have access to this data and by cross-checking it with other information, alerts can be issued quickly. It will be easier to prevent something like the Berlin Christmas market attack from happening, where the terrorist attacked and we found out afterwards that he had used 15 different identities.”
Ref.: 20171023STO86604
