EUROSUR enters into force, Brussels - Main contents

© Kevin Bergenhenegouwen

The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) will become operational on 2 December 2013.

EUROSUR will address the challenges of cross border crime, the loss of lives of migrants at sea and irregular migration by focusing on the following issues:

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  Protecting and saving lives at the external borders by considerably diminishing the unacceptable death toll of migrants at sea;

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  Contributing to the management of migration flows in full respect of EU and international obligations on human rights, including the principle of non-refoulement;

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  Increasing the internal security of the European Union by preventing serious crime at the external borders of the Schengen area.

The recent tragedies in the Mediterranean reinforce the need for better coordination within and between Member States in managing migration flows and the need for enhanced life-saving capacities and EUROSUR is a part of these efforts.

On 12 December 2011, the Commission proposed to establish a coordination system for border surveillance in order to tackle serious crime and to diminish the death toll of migrants at sea. The EUROSUR regulation was adopted by the European Parliament on the 9th of October 2013.

After testing and implementation phases, EUROSUR will gradually enter into force from the 2 December and will be fully operational from the 1st of December 2014. It will initially include Member States with southern sea and eastern land external borders (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Spain), as well as Norway. The remaining Member States with external borders (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden) will join from the 1st of December 2014.

IP and MEMO will be available on the day

DG HOME experts will give a technical briefing

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  Available on EbS

Homepage of Cecilia Malmström, Commissioner for Home Affairs

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/malmstrom/welcome/default_en.htm

Homepage DG Home Affairs:

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/index_en.htm

Michele Cercone: +32 229-80963 Michele.Cercone@ec.europa.eu

Tove Ernst: +32 229-86764 Tove.Ernst@ec.europa.eu

The European Commission is the executive body of the EU and runs its day-to-day business. It is made up of the College of Commissioners, 27 European Commissioners, one for each member state, who are each responsible for one or several policy areas. In addition, the 'Commission' also refers to the entire administrative body that supports the Commissioners, consisting of the Directorates-General and the Services.

The European Commission is the sole EU body capable of proposing new legislation. The Commission also performs an oversight function, monitoring whether European legislation is properly implemented in the member states. In the event of non-compliance, the Commission can coerce a member state to comply by starting a legal procedure at the European Court of Justice.