Over the past three years, threats to internal security have evolved and remain very much in evidence, as demonstrated by the series of terrorist attacks in several Member States and the increase in irregular crossings of the EU’s external borders. The rapid development of increasing travel movements, in combination with technological improvements, demands an innovative approach to strengthen security at the borders and improve the productivity of border authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies.
Data management in these areas must be more effective and efficient, in full respect of fundamental rights. Whilst EU information systems provide border guards and law enforcement officers with important security information on travellers, the current EU data management architecture still requires improvement to provide the right information at the right time. In particular, changes must be implemented to make the various information systems at EU level interoperable — able to exchange data and share information to ensure the availability of relevant information to authorities and officers when and where they need it.
Interoperability in this context focuses on the information systems for security, border and migration management that are operated at EU level as well as those that are in the process of being developed or awaiting adoption by the European Parliament and the Council. The (six) systems include:
Existing systems:
1. The Schengen Information System (SIS), which contains a broad spectrum of alerts on persons (refusals of entry or stay, EU arrest warrants, missing persons, judicial procedure assistance, discreet checks) and objects (including lost, stolen or invalidated identity or travel documents).
2. The Eurodac system, with fingerprint data of asylum applicants and third-country nationals who have crossed the external borders irregularly or who are irregularly staying in a Member State.
3. The Visa Information System (VIS) with data on short-stay visa holders.
Systems that are in preparation or development:
1. The future Entry/Exit System (EES), which has been adopted and will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports and electronically register the name, type of travel document, biometrics and the date and place of entry/exit of third-country nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short stay.
2. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which once adopted would be a largely automated system gathering and verifying security-related information submitted by visa-free third-country nationals ahead of their travel to the Schengen area.
3. The European Criminal Records Information System for third-country nationals (ECRIS-TCN system), which once adopted would be an electronic system for exchanging information on previous convictions handed down against third-country nationals by criminal courts in the EU.
Among upcoming systems, the EES and the proposed ETIAS have been designed to present a degree of interoperability between themselves and with the VIS.
Additionally, the scope should also include Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database, which should be systematically queried at the EU’s external borders. Interoperability components would also make it easier to consult Europol data including via the proposed European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
An innovative identity solution leveraging biometrics in a Multi-Biometrics Data Space (MBDS) to address the vulnerabilities of traditional identity documents and streamline the travel experience is necessary to bridge the current interoperability gaps, and a goal of the EU Horizon SafeTravellers research project. The project is developing new methods of frictionless crossing of EU borders. Partners are exploring options to develop Digital Travel Credentials (DTCs) in a European context, together with sensor and other supporting technologies to make this possible, such as privacy-preserving mechanisms to meet ethics and GDPR requirements.
SafeTravellers both proposes a new way of citizen identification based on multiple biometrics to address current issues with identity documents, as well as an enhancement of the current method of identity verification at the borders through a set of tools that will detect attacks of the biometric hardware, identity and travel document fraud and attempts to falsify biometrics. The project aims to produce a near operational system.
The European Association of Airport & Seaport Police (EAASP), consortium partner of SafeTravellers, is planning to host a Workshop at the World Border Security Congress in Madrid to report on progress compared to the user requirements expressed at the WBSC 2024 workshop and present the outline plans for pilot testing on the components:
– Attacking biometrics at Airports;
– Fraudulent identity and travel document at sea and land borders;
– New way of identification at the land borders and within vehicles; and
– Enhanced current identification on railway premises.
Participants will be invited to refine the plans for the Pilots to make them as useful as possible to the wider Border Security community. The workshop will discuss opportunities for future engagement of participants in project demonstration activities in simulated operational environments. Participants will get the opportunity to identify issues of importance and thereby maximise their benefits from the final solution.
With ten technology offerings such as; frictionless identification for EU/TCN citizens, detection of identity document fraud, defending against sensor interception, look-a-like, make-up, mimic and manipulation attacks, the research project aims to deliver a mechanism incorporating robust, secure, legally sound, privacy-proof, ethics friendly processes and tools able to connect and linked to the existing and preparational EU systems.
Thank you to Willem Mudde (European Association of Airport & Seaport Police) for his participation in this article.
SafeTravellers, EU Interoperability and WBSC 2025
