The plans, which take the form of a Commission proposal for a
Council Decision, aim to extend the circumstances in which cross
border surveillance and cross border pursuit can be carried
out.
The proposals will require an amendment to the Convention
implementing the Schengen Agreement, an agreement that allows
citizens from participating Member States to travel throughout the
area covered by the Agreement without being subjected to checks at
internal borders.
The Schengen Agreement has also enabled enforcement agencies
throughout Europe to have access to a database of reports on
individuals and objects, such as cars, for border control purposes,
internal police checks and in some cases for the purpose of issuing
visas, residence permits and dealing with those whom the system
defines as aliens.
At present, internal borders between 13 of the original 15
Member States (excluding the UK and Ireland) and Norway and
Iceland, are covered by the Schengen Information System (SIS),
created as a result of the Agreement.
But the Commission is in the process of updating the SIS, in
light of the EU expansion last year, and a changing political
environment, caused largely by 9/11 and the Madrid and London
bombings. Yesterday it proposed further amendments to the
Convention, in order to improve police cooperation between Member
States.
“Free movement of persons within the Schengen area,” declared
Vice President of the Commission Franco Frattini, in charge of
Freedom, Justice and Security, “requires action to counter security
deficits caused by the abolition of border controls, as
perpetrators of criminal acts are equally able to move as freely as
law abiding citizens. Impunity caused by obstacles to cooperation
must be removed”.
According to the Commission, the impact of the permeable
coexistence of different jurisdictions is most felt in everyday
police work in border regions. The need for appropriate cooperation
mechanisms is therefore most acute in those regions.
The proposed measures intend to strengthen and improve
information exchange on request or on the own initiative of
national law enforcement services, building on the experience that
has been gained over the past decade in the context of the SIS.
But data protection will still be a priority: all information
requests must comply with the relevant legal provisions laid down
in the Schengen Convention, says the Commission.
The measures also focus on structural coordination between the
relevant agencies, including the interoperability of equipment, in
particular in communications and surveillance technology, and joint
training schemes, such as work visits, exchange programmes and
language training.
The proposals also consider operational cooperation, including
joint patrols as well as joint intervention and surveillance
operations, providing assistance in the establishment of joint
investigation teams in border regions, and assigning police task to
liaison officers or to officials of the other Member States.
Finally, the proposals provide for a regulatory Committee to
assist the Commission and lay down its tasks. The Committee will be
manned by representatives of the Member States and chaired by the
representative of the Commission, who will submit to the Committee
a draft of the measures to be taken.
