Commission adopts Schengen Evaluation Report on
Greece and proposes recommendations to address deficiencies in external
border management
Following a positive opinion by the Schengen evaluation committee
on Friday, the College of Commissioners has today adopted the Schengen
Evaluation Report on Greece and a proposal for a Council Recommendation
on addressing the serious deficiencies identified in the evaluation
report on the application of Schengen rules in the field of management
of the external borders by Greece. The recommendations will be submitted
to the Council for adoption.
The Schengen evaluation mechanism,
established in October 2013, provides for the verification of the
application of the Schengen rules through monitoring visits to a given
Member State by Commission-led teams with experts from Member States and
Frontex. The Schengen evaluation report for Greece and the Proposal for
a Council Recommendation has been drawn up jointly by Member States
experts and Commission representatives.
Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said: "Our
ability to maintain an area free of internal border controls depends on
our ability to effectively manage our external borders. Today we are
proposing a set of recommendations to ensure that, at all external
borders of Greece, controls are carried out and brought in line with
Schengen rules. At the same time, we take note of the efforts of the
Greek Authorities to improve the situation and are reminding that all
parts of the Commission's comprehensive plan need to be applied to face
the unprecedented pressure at Europe's external borders. The objective
of the European Commission and of the Member States is to safeguard and
strengthen Schengen. We will only save Schengen by applying Schengen."
The
recommendations seek to ensure that Greece applies all Schengen rules
related to management of external border correctly and effectively.
Recommendations are made in a number of areas such as the improvement of
the registration procedures, including ensuring a sufficient number of
staff and fingerprint scanners for registration and verification of
migrants and their travel documents against SIS, Interpol and national
databases. Greece should provide the necessary facilities for
accommodation during the registration process and launch return
procedures for irregular migrants who are not seeking asylum and who are
not in need of international protection. Border surveillance should be
improved, including the establishment of a risk analysis system and
increased training of border guards. Improvements should also be made to
infrastructure and equipment at the border crossing points.
In
order to ensure compliance with these recommendations, the Commission
may, in addition, recommend that Greece takes certain specific measures
under Article 19a of the Schengen Borders Code, given the serious
deficiencies noted in the Schengen Evaluation Report.
Schengen Evaluation Mechanism
Schengen
evaluations are carried out in Member States based on a multi-annual
and an annual evaluation programme. Such visits can be announced or
unannounced.
Following each visit, a report is drawn up
identifying any shortcomings and this is accompanied by recommendations
for remedial action, with a deadline for their implementation. The
recommendations are submitted by the Commission to the Council for
adoption. As a follow-up, the Member State in question is required to
submit an action plan setting out how it intends to remedy the
weaknesses identified. Member States can be assisted in fulfilling the
recommendations via practical and/or financial measures from the
Commission, Frontex or other EU bodies.
The Eighth bi-annual report on the functioning of the Schengen area
of 15 December 2015 already announced that, depending on the results of
the Schengen evaluations in Greece, specific measures as referred to in
Article 19a and 26 of the Schengen Borders Code may be recommended.
Procedures addressing exceptional circumstances
If a Schengen Evaluation Report concludes that the evaluated Member State is "seriously neglecting its obligations under the Schengen rules" and if there are "serious deficiencies in the carrying out of external border control",
the Commission can propose recommendations, to be adopted by the
Council, for remedial action to address any deficiencies identified
during the evaluation. In order to ensure compliance with these
recommendations, the Commission may, under Article 19a of the Schengen
Borders Code, recommend that the evaluated Member State take certain
specific measures, which may include the deployment of European border
guard teams or the submission of a strategic plan setting out how the
Member State will deploy its own personnel and equipment to address the
concerns. The Commission's proposals must be adopted by a Committee of
the Member States, acting by qualified majority. The evaluated Member
State then has three months to complete the remedial actions.
Where,
after three months from the adoption of the Council recommendations,
serious deficiencies persist and the measures taken have not proved
sufficient to ensure the adequate remedy of these deficiencies, the
Commission may trigger the application of the procedure provided for in
Article 26 of the Schengen Borders Code.
Under Article 26 of the
Schengen Borders Code, if the measures under Article 19a have not been
effective, the Council may, based on a proposal from Commission,
recommend that one or more Member States reintroduce border controls at
all or at specific parts of their internal borders as a matter of last
resort, to protect the common interest of the Schengen area. The Council
recommendation needs to be adopted by qualified majority.
Under
Article 26, and in the exceptional circumstances described above,
controls can be reintroduced for a period of up to six months. This
measure can be prolonged for additional six month periods up to a
maximum duration of two years.
