The European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) agreed on 30 June on positions with regard to three crucial pieces of legislation related to the migration crisis and fight against terrorism. Firstly, the MEPs adopted their position on the European Coast and Border Guard. This new body will include a strengthened Frontex and the national border guards and coast guards. National guards will make available some men to common intervention teams. Under normal circumstances, member states will be solely responsible for the protection of their borders. Under crisis situations, member states will be able to ask for assistance from the EBCG. If the member state in question fails to secure its border and does not ask for intervention, the Council will be able to vote by qualified majority and send the intervention team even without the state´s consent. The MEPs are more Council-friendly here, than the Commission – the EC initially proposed that it would adopt the decision itself under its implementing powers.

The LIBE MEPs also adopted their position on a new regulation establishing a single travel document format for third-country nationals without ID, who stay irregularly in the EU. Today, every member state has its own format, which is ineffective and it makes readmissions difficult – third countries often object to today´s documents and reject the readmitted third-country nationals (e.g. they can object that the document does not sufficiently identify the person). The new document format would have all necessary safeguards against counterfeiting and would identify the third-country national without any doubt. The LIBE MEPs also agreed on their position toward the reform of the ECRIS – the European Criminal Records Information System. This system enables member states to share with each other criminal convictions of EU citizens. The new proposal enables EU member states to share also criminal data on non-EU citizens. This would be another tool in the fight against terrorism.

In all the above-mentioned cases, the MEPs will start trilogues with the EC and the Council. All of the measures will need to pass the EP plenary and the Council vote before entering into force.

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