The Management of Migrants’ Identities at the EU External Borders: Quo vadis Interoperability?

Résumé

Regulations 2019/817 and 2019/818 establish a framework for the interoperability between EU information systems in the field of borders, visa, police and judicial cooperation, asylum, and migration. These systems are: the Schengen Information System (SIS); the Visa Information System (VIS); the Entry Exit System (EES); the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS); the European Criminal Records Information System for third-country nationals (ECRIS-TCN), and the European Dactyloscopy system (Eurodac). The sister Regulations add new objectives to the underlying systems, among which the multiple-identity detection procedure stands out as the prominent novelty of the whole reform. This post glosses how this mechanism is expected to support the “correct identification” of third country nationals at the European Union (EU) external borders while questioning the guarantees set forth for migrants’ right to the protection of personal data.