Fonds voor de buitengrenzen 2007-2013 – Duitsland
The Commission has adopted the multiannual programme under the External Borders Fund 2007-2013 for Germany for an estimated amount of € 84 Million Euro, together with the first two annual programmes (2007 and 2008).
Vice President Jacques BARROT in charge of the Justice, Freedom and Security portfolio, welcomed the adoption of the German multiannual programme for the implementation of the External Borders Fund. "With the approval of this multiannual programme, Germany has shown its commitment to the establishment of the common integrated border management system. The planned investments will reinforce its capacity to work together with other Member States to effectively address the challenges of EU border control."
Germany has chosen to implement four of the Fund's strategic priorities:
-
-AFurther gradual establishment of the common integrated border management system;
-
-Support for the issuing of visas and the tackling of illegal immigration by the consular services of the Member States in third countries;
-
-Establishment of IT systems required by Community rules on external borders and visas (VIS and SIS);
-
-Application of the Community rules on borders and visas, in particular the Schengen Borders Code and the European Code on Visas.
Among the projects financed in the 2007 and 2008 annual programmes in Germany are:
-
-Purchase of equipment designed to enhance EU border security including specialised helicopter-mounted apparatus and biometric devices for detection of falsified documents;
-
-Improving consular activities in third countries through the deployment of trained staff specialised in dealing with sensitive visa files and detection of forged documents;
-
-Projects related to the development of the Schengen Information System (SIS II) and Visa Information System (VIS). For example, the German SIS will enable exchange of data between national authorities such as police, border guards or the consular officers and with other Schengen Member States.
-----------------------------
Background:
The External Borders Fund is one of the four financial instruments of the General Program on "Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows" which encourages a fair share of responsibilities between Member States arising from the introduction of integrated management of the external borders and from the implementation of common policies on asylum and immigration.
The other three Funds are: the European Fund for the Integration of Third country nationals, the European Return Fund and the European Refugee Fund.
The External Borders Fund establishes a financial solidarity mechanism to support countries which endure, for the benefit of the Community, a lasting and heavy financial burden arising from the implementation of common standards on control and surveillance of external borders and visa policy.
The overall budget of this Fund for 2007-2013 is € 1820 million, distributed as follows:
-
-€ 1543 million distributed among Member States on the basis of objective criteria expressing the burden of each state for external border control and visa policy for actions under national programmes;
-
-€ 109 million (6%) directly managed by the Commission and dedicated to Community actions.
-
-€ 108 million for the Kaliningrad transit scheme implemented by Lithuania
-
-€ 60 million for specific actions at strategic border points at the external borders on the basis of risk analyses carried out by the FRONTEX Agency.
For more information on the activities of Vice-President Barrot, please see: