Following the European Commission’s presentation of far-reaching proposals for an EU border management system, UK Green MEP Jean Lambert has sounded a warning that the proposals would compromise civil liberties without any proof that they will achieve their goals. Jean Lambert stated:
"With the proposed border management system, the Commission is looking to batten down the hatches against some ill-defined threat.
"The collection of much more detailed private information from citizens is being proposed without any real justification. There is no evidence to suggest that more pervasive data collection will offer any greater degree of security or be effective in tackling trafficking of people or otherwise. Unless the Commission envisages employing palm-readers, it will not be possible to divine any relevant information from biometric data. Yet the collection of this highly sensitive private data certainly risks undermining civil liberties.
"The Commission is proposing a number of other measures to tighten EU border control, however it seems to ignore the fact that existing instruments are not yet functioning properly. The EU has already introduced a number of measures, but the Commission is proposing more border controls without working to ensure the existing measures are properly implemented.
"Frontex is a perfect example: despite Member States’ promises, their actual engagement with Frontex has been less than enthusiastic. The lack of commitment from Member States has meant Frontex is completely under-resourced and cannot function. Surely we should be trying to make these existing instruments work before introducing more far-reaching measures?"
Note to Editors
Frontex is an EU agency based in Warsaw, created in 2005 to coordinate border security operations between Member States. Responsibility for the control of external borders of the Member States of the European Union lies with the Member States. The aim of Frontex is to strengthen border security by ensuring the coordination of Member States’ actions in the implementation of Community measures relating to the management of the external borders.