Written by Costica Dumbrava (1st edition),

Closeup of a border police officer
© dechevm / Adobe Stock

In September 2020, the Commission put forward a new pact on migration and asylum, setting out a comprehensive approach to European Union (EU) migration policies that links external borders, asylum, return systems, the Schengen area of free movement and the external dimension of migration. The pact includes a proposal for a new regulation on the screening of third-country nationals at external borders aiming to clarify and streamline the rules on dealing with third-country nationals who are not authorised to enter or stay in the EU.

The proposal would introduce a pre-entry screening procedure allowing national authorities at external borders to channel irregular third-country nationals to the appropriate procedure, i.e. asylum or return procedures. The screening would start with preliminary health and vulnerability checks and finish with the transmission of a debriefing form to the appropriate authorities. The proposal would provide for the establishment, by each Member State, of an independent monitoring mechanism for fundamental rights.

Complete version

Proposal for a regulation introducing a screening of third-country nationals at the external borders
Committee responsible: Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) COM(2020) 612
23.9.2020
Rapporteur: Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany) 2020/0278 (COD)
Shadow rapporteurs: Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA, The Netherlands) Ordinary legislative procedure (COD) (Parliament and Council on equal footing – formerly ‘co-decision’)
Next steps expected: Initial discussions in committee