On October 18-19, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, will hold a Conference on the Entry/Exit System in the Maritime Domain, hosted by the Royal Netherlands Marechausse in Rotterdam. To ensure the participation of operational staff (BCP level), the event will also be streamed online.
The Entry-Exit System (EES) will register the entry and exit at the EU external borders of non-EU nationals who are not residing in the Schengen Area. The conference will focus on EES processes for maritime border crossing points, covering four topics:
– The handling of cruise ship passengers, providing the opportunity to compare approaches taken by Member States to meet EES specific requirements, as well as preparations by carriers;
– The case of pleasure boats passengers and steps taken to ensure EES requirements are fulfilled in marinas;
– Technical solutions to facilitate the user experience in ferry connections and collaboration between border control authorities and port authorities;
– Presentation of relevant innovative technologies by industry representatives.
Speakers and moderators will be Member State experts directly involved in the preparations for the EES implementation in the maritime domain, representatives of the European Commission, cruise-ship associations, port authorities and industry, who will present the actual challenges faced at BCPs by the involved actors (e.g., border guards, carriers, operators) and the way in which they will interact and share responsibilities.
Frontex says the event will be of value to maritime border crossing points managers and staff who will be able to hear about solutions and challenges in different Member States, preparations being made by carriers, and examples of collaboration between border control authorities and port authorities.
