eu-LISA, the European Agency for Operational Management of Large-scale IT systems in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice, will host an Industry Roundtable entitled “EU external borders – streamlining of information exchange” in Sofia, Bulgaria on May 16^th 2018. The event is intended to convene representatives of entities involved in the carriage of travellers to and from the EU by air, sea and/or land, industry involved in the development and implementation of tools for advance passenger checks, academia who may have a strong research interest in such topics and EU Agencies/Institutions involved in relevant operational activities and policy discussions.

The roundtable will focus on two new lar4ge-scale IT systems to be launched in the area of freedom, security and justice, namely the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). eu-LISA is entrusted with the development of both systems which should be operational in the coming years. It is foreseen that industry provide presentations on methods and tools for carriers to conduct foreseen mandatory checks against these systems. Discussions will aim towards identification of optimal approaches for data submission and possible synergies while taking full account of modern carrier processes and the roles of technology therein. Means to ensure provision of high quality data by carriers will also be examined.   

The roundtable will provide an opportunity for carriers to express their views on how mandatory checks will impact their work and how such checks can be incorporated into their processes so as to minimise any negative impacts. It will also be a forum for bringing together the various entities who will be involved in work on relevant solutions in the coming years, providing a foundation for further discussions and collaboration between eu-LISA and other relevant parties. Industry will have the chance to indicate how their technologies and developments might help to increase efficiencies in the future.

Carrier organisations and industry are invited to show their interest in attending by e-mailing externalaffairs@eulisa.europa.eu by 13^th April 2018. Please note that participation is limited to two persons per company/entity. Those with an interest in providing presentations are especially invited to say so in their message. Both strategic presentations on foreseen future setups for carrier-system interactions and practical presentations of possible tools/solutions will be welcomed.

The roundtable will be held in cooperation with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and will be followed by a conference on border security organised by the Presidency on the next day.

Follow our website for updates regarding speakers, participation and registration.

After a little less than two years of intense efforts, the eu-LISA Internal Security Systems Sector successfully launched the first phase of the SIS II AFIS platform. The platform enables the identification of a person from his/her fingerprints alone.  The introduction of a biometric search capability in SIS II was achieved by eu-LISA in tight cooperation with ten Member States who showed both interest and willingness to use biometric queries once deployed at the Central System level. Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia will soon be followed by more Member States.

The aim of SIS II AFIS is to allow all the Member States to leverage on a centralized policing-oriented database. As such, it will strengthen the fight against crime within Europe which is a mission we should bear in mind each day. Using the platform to locate those who either lie about their identity or changed it to avoid detection is paramount to Europe’s security.

SIS II AFIS Phase One entered into operation on 5 March 2018 at 22:00 CET. The entire project was performed without any deviation from the timescale and in full compatibility with the requests from eu-LISA’s Governing Bodies.

“This is an important milestone in the evolution of SIS II. With its new biometric search capabilities the system becomes an even more important platform for law-enforcement cooperation and information exchange. At the same time, this is a great achievement for the Agency as a whole, demonstrating again our agility and ability to deliver towards the needs of eu-LISA’s stakeholders.” said Krum Garkov, Executive Director of eu-LISA.

Background

Articles 22 (c) of the SIS II Decision and the SIS II Regulation have foreseen an evolution towards the normal law enforcement practice of comparing a person’s fingerprints to the many sets of prints stored in SIS II (‘one-to-many’ search) to identify the person solely on the basis of his/her fingerprints.

However, this can only be achieved by using an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Links

Contacts

for media requests:

e-mail: press@eulisa.europa.eu

for general information:

e-mail: info@eulisa.europa.eu

After a little less than two years of intense efforts, the eu-LISA Internal Security Systems Sector successfully launched the first phase of the SIS II AFIS platform. The platform enables the identification of a person from his/her fingerprints alone.  The introduction of a biometric search capability in SIS II was achieved by eu-LISA in tight cooperation with ten Member States who showed both interest and willingness to use biometric queries once deployed at the Central System level. Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia will soon be followed by more Member States.

The aim of SIS II AFIS is to allow all the Member States to leverage on a centralized policing-oriented database. As such, it will strengthen the fight against crime within Europe which is a mission we should bear in mind each day. Using the platform to locate those who either lie about their identity or changed it to avoid detection is paramount to Europe’s security.

SIS II AFIS Phase One entered into operation on 5 March 2018 at 22:00 CET. The entire project was performed without any deviation from the timescale and in full compatibility with the requests from eu-LISA’s Governing Bodies.

“This is an important milestone in the evolution of SIS II. With its new biometric search capabilities the system becomes an even more important platform for law-enforcement cooperation and information exchange. At the same time, this is a great achievement for the Agency as a whole, demonstrating again our agility and ability to deliver towards the needs of eu-LISA’s stakeholders.” said Krum Garkov, Executive Director of eu-LISA.

Background

Articles 22 (c) of the SIS II Decision and the SIS II Regulation have foreseen an evolution towards the normal law enforcement practice of comparing a person’s fingerprints to the many sets of prints stored in SIS II (‘one-to-many’ search) to identify the person solely on the basis of his/her fingerprints.

However, this can only be achieved by using an Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).

Links

Contacts

for media requests:

e-mail: press@eulisa.europa.eu

for general information:

e-mail: info@eulisa.europa.eu

For the first time, the European Commission will grant an EU city with a Fair and Ethical Trade Award.

The aim of the Award is to highlight the important role of cities in providing platforms for fair and ethical trade schemes. The contest was officially launched in Brussels on 7 December 2017 and applications will be accepted until 13 April 2018.

Source: http://www.trade-city-award.eu

What is the EU Cities for Fair & Ethical Trade Award?

The Award is part of the EU’s efforts to raise awareness about how purchasing decisions of EU consumers can affect the environment and livelihoods of people in other countries – and the role that cities and local authorities must play.

Help your city apply!

Civil society organisations, NGOs and other stakeholders are welcome to complete city applications with the approval, in the form of a Mayoral Declaration, of the relevant municipality authority.

Applications are open to all EU cities that contain at least 20.000 inhabitants.

You will find all the relevant information regarding the contest here
http://www.trade-city-award.eu

Urgent action is needed to protect our oceans and seas from an invasion of plastics

At today’s Environment Council, ministers exchanged views on the package presented by the Commission on 16 January 2018, which aims at delivering on the circular economy action plan. The package consists of the following elements:

• European strategy for plastics in a circular economy 
• a Monitoring framework for the circular economy
• Implementation of the Circular Economy package: options to address the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation 

They based their debate on a note prepared by the Presidency and took into account the interventions of Commissioners Vella and Arias Cañete, who were present.

Ministers agreed that they welcome the presentation of the new EU plastics strategy. They highlighted the need to move forward with the plastics strategy as it aims to improve how we use and recycle plastics. Plastics have been instrumental in achieving the economic and social standards we have today. However, in recent years marine littering and other undesirable consequences linked to the use of plastic have been a concern to environment ministers. All Ministers welcomed the Commission package and called for an urgent implementation of concrete measures, in particular to increase the recycling of plastics, find solutions to the widespread use of single-use plastic and to find a holistic approach to the value chain of plastic production. Eco-design for plastic products can play a very important role here. In their exchange of views, ministers mentioned several other possible actions to be taken at EU or at national levels:

• campaigns for raising consumer awareness
• increasing the quality of recycled products through setting standards
• green public procurement
• the use of the rules on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), similar to the one which was agreed recently in the waste package, together with financial incentives and voluntary commitments by the industry.

Finally, ministers agreed that they are all looking forward to the Commission legislative proposal on single use plastics.

We need to protect our environment from plastic pollution. We also need to protect our seas from microplastic particles. Today we have made a very important first step towards commitments which will enable us to deliver on our promise to protect the environment and the health of our citizens.

Neno Dimov, the Bulgarian Minister for Environment and Water

On the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation, many ministers highlighted the need for availability of information on substances of concern in products. According to several speakers the same rules should apply to the content of hazardous substances in primary and in secondary raw materials, which underlines the importance of the substitution of such substances as far as possible. A number of speakers also addressed the need for more harmonised end-of-waste rules throughout the EU. 

While many Ministers focused in their interventions on the plastics strategy and the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation, as suggested by the Presidency, several speakers also highlighted the importance of another element of the package, namely the monitoring framework regarding progress towards a circular economy. The proposed indicators were generally welcomed, but some ministers asked to broaden the scope of the indicators to other areas than the waste sector. In this context, they stressed the substantial contribution which the circular economy can make to the fulfilment of the climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. 

Finally, Environment Ministers underlined the need to fully involve other Council formations in the discussions and the work on circular economy throughout different sectors.

The Bulgarian Presidency is planning to have Council conclusions adopted on the above topics in June.

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