Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

The Integrated Border Management Fund aims to guarantee a better and integrated management of the EU's external borders, higher level of border security in the Union, as well as the integrity of the supply chain, while safeguarding the free movement of persons and goods and ensuring that legitimate trade is not impaired. 

The Integrated Border Management Fund comprises two components: Border Management and Visa Instrument (control of persons) and Customs Control Equipment Instrument (control of goods):

The Commission proposal on the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) is subject to amendments by the Council and the European Parliament, since negotiations/trilogues are expected to take place October 2019 -December 2020. 

The Border Management and Visa Instrument contributes to: 

• Promoting the uniform implementation, further development and modernisation of the common policy on short-stay visas, including the digitisation of visa processing;  

• Further developing different forms of consular cooperation;  

• Enhancing border control by reinforcing the Member States’ capacities, including by facilitating legitimate border crossings and, where appropriate, preventing and detecting terrorism and cross-border crime, such as migrant smuggling, trafficking in human beings and supporting the Member States facing existing or potentially disproportionately migratory pressure at the EU external borders;

• Supporting the development, operation and maintenance of information systems, including interoperability;  

• Enhancing inter-agency cooperation at national level among national authorities in Member States, responsible for border control or for other tasks carried out at the border; 

• Carrying out risk analyses and identifying threats that may affect the functioning or the security of the external borders; 

• Ensuring the uniform application of the Schengen acquis on external borders;

• Further development of the European Border and Coast Guard and contributing to the exchange or secondment of border guards and other relevant experts between Member States or between a Member State and a third country.

The newly proposed 2021-2027 regulatory framework contains a number of major simplifications:

The fragmentation of the current rules governing the different EU Funds managed jointly by the EU and the Member States - shared management - has made the life of the authorities managing programmes complicated and discouraged potential project promoters from applying for different sources of EU funding. This has been particularly relevant in areas where complementarity between different EU Funds is needed.

The proposed Common Provision Regulation (CPR) for 2021-2027, laying down the implementation rules for shared management funds, including the Border Management and Visa Instrument, aims at developing a coordinated and harmonised implementation of Union funds. The proposed regulation is a clear step forward in terms of achieving a single rulebook for funds under shared management, which is a demand of beneficiaries and programme authorities and has been identified as a clear issue to be addressed. The single rulebook is even more important taking into account that migration and security are not only covered by the Border Management and Visa Instrument, the Internal Security Fund and the Asylum and Migration fund but also by the Cohesion Policy Funds. This approach brings clear improvements to decreasing the administrative burden.

Even though the fund's specific regulation will add certain provisions necessary to cater for the particularities of individual funds, the single rulebook approach will provide at least the following benefits:

• Alignment of rules facilitates access to funds, simplifies implementation and reduces risk of errors;

• Risk of implementation delays is reduced by providing templates and implementation rules upfront;

• There will be only one strategic document, the Partnership Agreement (PA), per Member State covering seven shared management funds to steer negotiations on programming;

• A common approach will give a push for the use of simplified cost options;

• Technical assistance will be reimbursed by using a flat rate without requesting supporting documents;

• Time consuming, laborious designation procedure for the managing/responsible authority is not required anymore;

• Audit burden is reduced due to risk-based approach requiring less audit for well-functioning systems;

• Reporting from Member States to the Commission is based on aggregated data instead of reporting on all financial transactions at project level which will reduce reporting burden;

• Payment system between Member States and the Commission is streamlined and simplified, for instance by decoupling accounts from payment claims and by accepting aggregated financial data as basis for interim payment to Member States.

Audit and control procedures are simplified. In the beginning of the programming period, there will be no need to repeat the time-consuming designation process of the authorities as in the 2014-2020 period. Member States can rollover the existing implementation system. For programmes with a well-functioning management and control system and a low error rate, the Commission proposes to rely more on the national control procedures in place. The single audit principle is extended. This means that beneficiaries of the Funds should only be subject to a single check rather than multiple, potentially not fully coordinated, audits.

Synergies and Complementaritiesbetween the Border Management and Visa Instrument, the Asylum and Migration Fund and the Internal Security Fund will be established, as well as with other instruments. In particular, funds and programmes in the areas of maritime security and surveillance, security research, security of infrastructure, Cohesion Policy and the instruments supporting the external dimension of border management are concerned. Effective coordination mechanisms are crucial to maximise the effectiveness in the achievement of policy objectives and to exploit economies of scale. This will ensure complementarity and clarity between the scopes of all instruments, including clarity for beneficiaries.

Savings and benefits are mainly of qualitative nature and cannot be quantified at this stage.  

Outcome of Legislative Procedure

Overall, the agreement reached among the co-legislators preserved the objectives of the original Commission proposal, although the agreed position offered slightly less flexibility and less simplification than what was initially proposed. The agreement maintained the same level of ambition as the initial proposal and provided a workable legal base for the implementation of Fund’s objectives.

The main changes in the agreement limiting slightly flexibility and simplification of the initial proposal were the following:

 

Minimum funding percentage: A minimum threshold of 10% of the resources to the Member State programmes will be allocated to the specific objective on common visa policy, subject to the possibility of Member States to deviate in duly justified cases.

Financing of large-scale IT systems: It was agreed to have a closed list of eligible ICT-systems and large-scale IT-systems, which may receive a high co-financing rate of 90%.

Blending: Article 19 stipulating blending operations was deleted.

Moreover, some other changes, which do not have REFIT impacts, were made such as the percentages of the Thematic Facility, Mid-Term Review and initial allocations were slightly revised, as well as, the maximum ceiling for the operating support.

In addition, the annex III of the proposal (Scope of Support) will be a closed list (except Emergency Assistance) for the purposes of the Thematic Facility’s work programmes. In case of action in and in relation to third countries Member States need prior approval of the Commission.    

 

The use of multi-purpose equipment was a significant element agreed to increase flexibility: The agreement extends the scope of multipurpose use of equipment and ICT systems. They may be used not only for customs control and for maritime operations of multipurpose character but also for achieving the objectives of the other two Home Affairs Funds, notably of the Internal Security Fund and of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, as long as the primary purpose of those equipment (maximum 30% of the total period of use) and ICT systems are in accordance with the Regulation and double-financing is avoided.

Estimated savings and benefits

Outcome of legislative procedure and changes presented above should not have significant financial impacts, neither positive nor negative. Savings and benefits describe below, in particular relating to the Common Provision Regulation, remained valid.