EU komt met plan voor snelle reactieteams grensbewaking (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission is this week set to adopt a plan to establish EU rapid reaction teams aimed at safeguarding the bloc's external borders.

At their last meeting before the summer break, commissioners are set on Wednesday (19 July), to approve a document - seen by the EUobserver - which outlines the tasks and rules under which "rapid border intervention teams" would operate.

The plan is based on a voluntary scheme where member states willing to participate in the project would be asked to draw up a list of national border guards available to other countries in critical situations.

The rapid intervention teams would work on an ad hoc basis and only be deployed in times of crises to "fill any gaps in the control and surveillance performed by the national border guard service of the requesting member states."

The joint operations would be conducted by the EU's agency for external borders management (Frontex) i, while the states facing the immigrant influx would need to approve the deployment of guards from other member states on their territory.

The guest officers would help out in tasks such as checking the travel documents of people crossing the border of a country at stake, conducting interviews or searching vehicles or belongings.

They may also take part in external border patrols and even act to prevent illegal crossings of borders.

"Guest officers and members of the Rapid Border Intervention Teams shall moreover be entitled to wear their own uniforms, however with insignia clearly identifying them as participating in a joint operation."

"They shall also be issued with a document identifying them and giving proof of their right to exercise their tasks," states the draft proposal.

The agency would cover the costs of joint operations - estimated at €11.4 million between 2008-2013 - such as accommodation, travel, vaccination or special insurance costs but not the regular salaries of the national experts.

Frontex would also provide basic training for guest experts - so that they have "the same high level of expertise on border control related issues and are able to work together efficiently in crisis situations," says the proposal.

The border agency is already provided with so-called joint support teams but they are used to tackle regular operations organised by the agency - such as major international events taking place in some of the member states.

Malta and Spain troubles

The issue has come to a head recently with Malta and Spain's Canary Islands seeing a high influx of immigrants. Both governments have strongly pressed for more EU action to tackle the problem.

Malta, which is 316 square km and has 400,000 inhabitants, is currently hosting 1,031 illegal immigrants at its open centres.

Spain's Canary Islands have also seen a day-by-day increase of immigrants crossing its borders, with 160 having arrived over the weekend.

Over 11,000 people have landed on the islands this year - about twice as much as in 2005, according to Spanish media.

Over the weekend, both countries were involved in an incident where their authorities refused to accept immigrants and could not agree on who should take care of them.

On Sunday, Maltese officials denied the entry of a Spanish fishing boat with 51 African immigrants on board claiming to have been rescued outside the coast of the Mediterranean island.