You're listening to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on a new European

travel information and authorisation system.

Recent terrorist attacks and uncontrolled migration flows have led the Commission to propose the introduction of a new electronic pre-screening program for visitors intending to visit the EU.

It follows the US and Canadian models, but how will it exactly work? Stay with us and we'll walk you through the proposal.

The EU agendas on migration and security are a direct response to the need to better secure the EU's external borders and manage migration flows, but there are still many gaps to be addressed. One such gap concerns the lack of information about a specific category of travellers arriving in the

Schengen area, third country nationals who are exempt from holding a visa. But who makes up this

group? Well, currently, citizens of around 60 countries around the world do not need a visa to

enter the EU. That's about 30 million people. And it may rise to 39 million in 2020 as the EU concludes more and more

visa liberalisation dialogues with third countries. So how are these travellers screened when

they enter the EU? Well, both visa-obliged and visa-exempt travellers are subject to border

controls when entering the Schengen area and need to comply with the conditions for short-term

stay.

These include not being a threat to public order and holding valid travel documents.

However, in the case of visa-exempt nationals, there's nothing like the advanced transfer of detailed information required for the visa application procedure for travellers obliged to

hold a visa. What does this mean?

Well, essentially it means that border agents don't know much about them and the security,

migration or public health risks they could pose.

This is especially true of travellers arriving in the EU by land with a passport as their only travel document.

So very often, border agents need to trust their own intuition when deciding whether to allow or refuse

them access into the Schengen area.

In 2015, nearly 300,000 non-EU citizens wanting to enter the EU were forced to turn back,

mainly because they were thought to pose a migration and or security risk.

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