New member states told to step up border controls

Just weeks ahead of a Council meeting that will decide on new member states’ accession to the Schengen borderless system, an internal report has outlined deficits in many of these countries, according to press reports. 

Many of the countries that form the EU’s new borders with eastern and south-eastern Europe and the Mediterranean “must overcome shortcomings”, the report states, according to the Financial Times. 

Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia have reported problems controlling their land borders with Russia, the Ukraine, Serbia and Croatia respectively, the report goes on to say, while Malta seems to have serious problems with respect to issuing visas. 

Poland, the paper says, is praised, among other things, for the “up-to-date equipment at its borders and enough frontier guards”. 

The evaluation report on Schengen implementation in the new member states was drafted with a view to the November 8-9 Justice and Home Affairs Council, where ministers will decide whether nine countries that joined the EU in 2004 can become full members of the Schengen system on 21 December 2007 with respect to their overland borders and on 29 March 2008 with respect to their seaports and airports. 

In order for the nine countries to join, ministers must unanimously agree that the Schengen acquis is properly implemented there. Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania are set to implement the system in December 2008 for their land borders and in March 2009 for their ports. 

Read more with Euractiv

European centre to tackle cocaine smuggling

The UK and six other EU member states yesterday (30 September) opened a new centre to deal with cocaine smuggling in the Atlantic.