Schengen statistics: We are looking for...

... things that have been stolen or lost, like

• 134 255 suspect banknotes;
• 341 675 blank documents;
• 348 353 firearms;
• 25 685 572 identification documents like passports;
• 3 889 098 cars.

... people, like

• 28 666 persons wanted for extradition;
• 736 868 persons who are not supposed to enter the Schengen area;
• 26 707 missing adults;
• 25 612 missing minors;
• 78 869 witnesses, persons summoned to appear before the judicial authorities in connection with criminal proceedings in order to account for acts for which they are being prosecuted, or persons who are to be served with a criminal judgement or a summons to report in order to serve a penalty involving deprivation of liberty;
• 32 571 persons that are observed because they committed crimes or are a threat to national security;
• 253 person that need to be observed secretly in order not to jeopardise the goal of the observation.

These statistics are from a Council document summarising the data in the Schengen Information System (SIS) database as of 01 January 2010.*

See also: How many people leave and enter the EU in a week?

*The legal background for this data is the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement (CISA) of 14 June 1985 (Articles 95-100) which can be found in the Schengen acquis.

New borders in the Union?

As an EU citizen you tend to forget that borders still exist, and usually you only realise this when you leave the Union.

But in his latest post, Jon Worth is rightfully complaining about the following incident:

"On the Amsterdam-München CityNightLine service last weekend Netherlands Police boarded the train at Venlo and shone a flashlight in everyone’s faces at the border."

And since I had similar experiences in the night train from Paris to Barcelona and in a normal train from the Netherlands to Germany, I also ask myself whether the member states are trying to establishing new borders within the Union, and in particular within the Schengen area?

If they are doing this, I'd expect the EU institutions to intervene - especially since border controls re-establish the impression that borders are not disappearing, and this would definitely go against the goals and ideals of the Union.

What member states think about CIREFI

You have never heard about CIREFI, the Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Frontiers and Immigration?

Me neither. Until today.

Apparently, it is a forum of national experts meeting every two months to exchange information on legal and illegal immigration. The Centre was created in 1994 and includes all 27 member states plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein.

Okay, you might say, so what?

Interestingly, all member states have been asked what they think about this Centre, and for once the answers to the questionnaire sent out by the Council secretariat are fully public (pdf), which allows a comparative assessment between 30 states (Liechtenstein didn't answer) on a set of 18 questions.

And although CIREFI is just one of the many groups within the immense field of working groups, expert committees etc. that govern the European administrative space, the comparative reading of all answers still gives some very useful insights.

For time reasons, I just went through question 17:

Considering the activities of other platforms dealing with the issue of illegal migration, do you consider there still to be good reasons for the existence of CIREFI and that it continues to be useful for the participating institutions?

(a) If so, what do you consider to be the main benefit of CIREFI?
(b) If not, what are your suggestions for the future functioning of CIREFI?

and it seems like all member states consider the body a valuable forum for the quick exchange of information on migration, in particular illegal migration, and for the personal contact between professional working in the respective field(s).

Some (like Finland, Germany) point to the fact that there is the possibility to double work with Frontex or that the work of these bodies could be combined, but most answers still indicate that they see an added value in this particular body.

The most interesting statement in the answers to this question comes from Slovenia:

"On the contrary of some other EU bodies working parties with the Council guarantees equal treatment of all Member States."

That sounds like a pretty harsh critique, and it would be interesting to know what Slovenia is referring to...

So if you are interest in European migration policy, trying to understand EU and Schengen politics in this regard, the questionnaire gives a pretty good insight into one rather unknown institution facilitating the flow of information between the member states, thus probably having a significant impact on the political and technical perception of the problem throughout the EU and beyond.

In any case, it good to see such an assessment in a public document, and I would be glad if this was the case for many other documents, too!

Yet another Agency: The Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice [supplemented]

According to the German tech news heise.de (quoting Austrian sources), Estonia is the only country applying to host the future

Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice.

The Agency, which is part of a larger legislative package around the Schengen Information System (SIS) infrastructure that will see its second generation (SIS II) implemented, is not yet created; the respective proposal has been forwarded by the Commission to the Council and the Parliament on 26 June 2009 (see PRELEX).

The Council Working Group Schengen Acquis – Mixed Committee (EU-Iceland/ Norway/ Switzerland/ Liechtenstein) will discuss the issue on 9 September 2009 (agenda), and

"[m]ember States are invited to compose their delegations with expertise on both the institutional aspect of establishing rules for EU-agencies and know-how on effective IT-management".

It is unclear when the Parliament will deal with the topic.

PS.: Let me also remind in this context that there will be a massive data collection exercise at the EU/Schengen borders starting in one week.

Supplement:

I would like to share the comment by Mariya to this post, which adds some more content to the debate around this new agency:

Indeed, yet another agency with yet another long name. Stay tuned for another fancy acronym. Though nothing beats my favorite 'SISone4all'.

What I find more interesting though is the legal basis for this agency. According to the Commission, "The present package of legal instruments combines two legal instruments: a Regulation governing the first-pillar aspects of SIS II and VIS as well as EURODAC and a Decision regarding third-pillar aspects of SIS II and VIS".

It should make for an interesting battle between the Council and the EP. The proposal is also intriguing from another perspective: it is presented in a way that suggests that it is a mere technical issue and is mainly (if at all) justified in terms of efficiency. Undoubtedly, this makes it easier to sell but there is no mention of the normative consequences of such decision for, among others, data protection. Also, I would have liked to see how this is a part of a bigger strategy for the development of JHA policy. As it stands, it smacks of an attempt to introduce e-borders in the same way as the US has done.

Massive data collection exercise at the EU/ Schengen external borders in August/ September

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UPDATE: Find the results of the data collection exercise here.

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According to a newly released Council document (dated 8 June; only partially public), the EU and Schengen member states will run a massive data collection exercise at the external borders from 31 August to 6 September 2009.

Initially planned for June and postponed to the dates indicated above (with the data being transferred to the Council Secretariat in mid-September), the goal of this exercise is

"comparable data on entries and exits of different categories of travelers at different types of external borders, currently not available in all Member States, that would be useful in preparatory work within the Commission with a view to submitting in the beginning of 2010 a legislative proposal on the creation of a system of electronic recording of entry and exit data."

In earlier discussions, member states had different opinions whether this data collection would include all border crossing points, and it is not clear whether this is the case or not. A Council document from May highlights that

"[t]he added value of the proposed exercise would be the gathering of comparable data on entries and exits of different categories of travelers at different types of external borders in the Member States"

while noting that

"the exercise is not aimed at establishing estimates on the total number of border crossings in Member States."

Since the documents are only partially public, it is not absolutely clear what kind of date will be assembled through which measures. It is also not clear whether this will be random sampling (e.g. every fifth/tenth/twentieth traveller) or a complete sampling of everyone crossing the border during this one week.

Since this will be a kind of test run for a standardised exit/entry database, it would be interesting to know what the European Data Protection Supervisor (or his national colleague) think about this exercise...

PS.: And also note that discussions on the Passenger Name Record (PNR) are continuing intransparently in the Council (see my previous coverage).

Short remark: Border controls

Last week I was passing the Dutch-German border by train. At the border station, the German Federal Police went through the train and selectively controlled passengers' IDs, asking where they were heading to.

I wasn't controlled, and felt guilty towards those who were...

Border controls within the EU make me angry!

(What is so difficult at the concept of NOT having borders - not making them felt - within the European Union, and the Schengen area in particular?!)

Good news: Swiss support Schengen including Romania and Bulgaria - updated

As a vigorous supporter of free movement, yesterday's news that almost 60% of the Swiss support the enlargement of the Schengen free movement agreement for Bulgarians and Romanians was really good news.

The alternative would have been - if I understand it correctly - the halt of the agreement, because the European Union does not allow such a discrimination of its member states: All... or non.

In this sense: Welcome to the family, Switzerland!

From Coulisses de Bruxelles:

Cela fait chaud au coeur de voir que la xénophobie ne triomphe pas toujours.

100% agreement!

The Neue Zürricher Zeitung (NZZ) remarks (by linking different press articles) that finally the Swiss are seen as "good Europeans" instead of being just isolationists.

Switzerland joins Schengen area

According to German news sources, EU ministers of the interior have decided that Switzerland will be the next country to join the Schengen area.

Systematic border controls will be ceased from 12 December 2008, the controls at airports will end from 28 March 2009.

That is good news for the freedom of movement within Europe, and I am looking forward to more countries joining the club, because there is nothing worse than border controls on a European continent that moves towards greater unity.

Electronic entry and exit recording to Schengen area

I have just found the reference to a recent but not published EU document called:

"Presidency project for a system of electronic recording of entry and exit dates of third-country nationals in the Schengen area"

Did anyone of you hear about this?

Because I didn't. It would be quite interesting to see, what the French presidency is planning...