An Assessment of the Existent Databases and Instruments for Registering and Monitoring Immigrants in the EU: The Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS), Eurodac and the Creation of Frontex
Journal Title: EUROLIMES - Year 2017, Vol 23, Issue 23
Abstract
The desire to control and monitor third country nationals entering the European Community//European Union led to the creation of various databases during the process of European integration. When communism ended and the Iron Curtain was lifted, the people from the neighbouring countries were expecting the opening of the borders of the European Community, but on the contrary the Iron Curtain, under the auspices of the security-centred provisions of the Schengen Convention and later Maastricht, has turned into a lace curtain designed to exclude citizens from the other side of the border. Under the auspices of the so-called Schengen security dilemma, the strengthening of the external borders was a precondition for the creation of an area of free movement without any border controls for the Community citizens. As our main hypothesis we argue that, on the one hand the creation of various databases for the registration and monitoring of immigrants such as the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS) and the European Central Automated Fingerprint Identification System (EURODAC) is a consequence of the prevailing internal Schengen security dilemma, while on the other hand the abundance of the existing databases as well the introduction of new technologies such as the Eurosur or the Smart Borders Initiative will transform the border and migrant monitoring into a 2.0 control in the European Union. The migrant/refugee crisis started in 2015 seems to validate this hypothesis, as the Union puts an even bigger emphasize on these databases and new cutting edge technologies meant to halt the arrival of irregular immigrants on EU territory and to filter out not bona fide travellers. Furthermore, we consider that the creation of a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex) on the first hand and later its transformation into a European Border and Coast Guard Agency with enhanced powers, also subscribes within this train of thoughts.
Authors and Affiliations
Edina Lilla MÉSZÁROS
Keywords
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