EU Council Agrees to Tougher Border Security Measures

European Union

The Council of the European Union (which represents the Ministers of Justice/Internal Affairs of the EU member states) is recommending tougher security measures at external borders in the wake of last month’s terrorist attacks in Paris. The Council stated that EU member states should:

• Implement systematic and coordinated security checks for all travelers into and out of the European Union, including for nationals of Schengen member states whose documents are typically subject to simple visual checks currently;
• Upgrade local contact points of the Schengen electronic border control system to better facilitate checks against all relevant criminal and national security databases; and
• Systematically register and fingerprint all third-country nationals entering the European Union without authorization.

The Council’s recommendations do not carry legal weight, but they indicate a strong policy position by the European Union and its member states.  All EU member states are expected to implement stricter border security measures in the near future.

What This Means for Foreign Nationals

All travelers, including EU nationals, would face delays when entering the European Union due to the stricter security measures the Council is recommending.

Fragomen will continue monitoring the events and will report on relevant developments.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].

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