EU team arrives for Schengen border control evaluation

A team of experts from the European Commission and EU Member States on Monday arrived at the headquarters of the Finnish Border Guard in Helsinki, said an official press release.

The event in question was the inauguration of an evaluation of Finnish external border control.

Schengen evaluations monitor the application of the Schengen Borders Code in each Member State and last time it took place in 2011.

With regard to external borders, the evaluators will visit Finnish land and sea borders and airports during the week.

The Finnish Border Guard serves as the host of the evaluation, but the police and Customs are also involved in the arrangements. Cooperation between Finnish authorities is impressively on display during the assessment.

The assessment of Finnish external borders was opened by the Deputy Chief of the Finnish Border Guard, Major General Ilkka Laitinen, who recalled his own experiences of Schengen evaluations in various European countries. Laitinen expressed his wish for a strict assessment, believing it will produce valuable information for the development of external border control in Finland.

The new Finnish integrated border management strategy, or the IBM strategy, was also published during the inauguration of the Schengen external border evaluation.

In accordance with the Regulation on the European Border and Coast Guard, each Member State must prepare its own national strategy. The strategy describes integrated border security as a whole, as well as key national development objectives.