The European Parliament on Tuesday adopted two important Security Union legislative initiatives proposed by the European Commission. These new measures will allow EU information systems for security, migration and border management to work together more intelligently and will strengthen EU rules on explosive precursors.

The interoperability framework will:

  • Crosscheck existing data with one click through a European search portal: Border guards and police will, on a single screen, be able to carry out and cross-check identity documents against all the relevant EU information systems, in line with their existing access rights;
  • Better detect identity fraud: Border guards and police will soon be able to identify dangerous criminals more easily through a shared biometric matching service that will use fingerprints and facial images to search across existing information systems, and through a common identity repository which will store biographical data of non-EU citizens. In addition, a multiple-identity detector will cross-check and immediately flag anyone who is using fraudulent or multiple identities;
  • Protect fundamental rights: Interoperability does not change the rules on access and purpose limitation relating to the EU’s information systems. Fundamental rights thus remain protected.

While the EU already has strict rules in place on access to chemical precursors that can be used to produce homemade explosives, the strengthened regulation will:

  • Ban additional chemicals: The list of restricted substances has been updated to include sulphuric acid, an ingredient in the explosives used in the attack at the airport and the subway of Brussels in March 2016, as well as ammonium nitrate.
  • Strengthen licensing and screening: Before issuing a license to a member of the general public for buying restricted substances, each Member State will need to check the legitimacy of such a request and perform a careful security screening, including a criminal background check.

Approximately 40% of terrorist attacks in the EU between 2015 and 2017 used homemade explosives, demonstrating clear gaps in the current rules. Furthermore, the security threat has been constantly evolving, with terrorists using new formulas and techniques to prepare homemade explosives.
Rapporteur Andrejs Mamikins (S&D, LV) said: “This is a victory of European security over the terrorist threat, which no Member State can tackle individually. The new rules will close security gaps in the use and sale of explosives by setting strict rules along the whole supply chain, regulating the online market and restricting access to certain substances for members of the general public.”

Next steps
The European Council will now have to adopt the texts of the two new Regulations establishing the framework for the interoperability of EU information systems for security, border and migration management, as well as the strengthened Regulation on the marketing and use of explosives precursors.

The texts will then be co-signed by the President of the European Parliament and the rotating Presidency of the Council, published in the Official Journal and will enter into force twenty days later.

The Regulation on explosives precursors will become applicable immediately. The Regulations on interoperability will enable eu-LISA to start developing and rolling-out the technical components for the relevant IT systems.

These include the reinforced Schengen Information System (SIS), the existing Visa Information System (VIS), the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS-TCN), the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). The work is expected to be complete by 2023.

Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou