Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies no. 16 Year: 2020 - Págs.: 323 a 344
337
Andrés de Castro García - Juan Francisco Romero Quesada The European Border…
projects, as approved by the Commission; it will also have to adopt budgetary and
operational implementation instruments necessary for managing the programme; in
addition, it will provide support in the implementation of programmes, and may carry
out its own pilot research projects related to its mandate, and in accordance with this
regulation, it must publish detailed information on them. In fact, on Frontex’s own
website you can find innovation and development projects carried out before the entry
into force of this new regulation, although using different funds, either belonging to
the Agency or linked to European Union projects, such as the Copernicus programme,
in which the Agency has been collaborating since 2014.
The Agency will have to ensure that the central unit SEIAV (European Travel In-formation
and Authorisation System), as provided for in Article 7 of Regulation (EU)
2018/1240, is set up and becomes operational; as a novelty, it will also be responsible
for operating the False and Authentic Documents Online (FADO) system, which was
established under Joint Action 98/700/JHA. With regards to the SEIAV, the Agency
plans to have its structure incorporated into Frontex’s own, with a total of 250 employ-ees,
and a team dedicated to its development and implementation. With regards to the
FADO system, Regulation (EU) 2020/493 has just repealed Joint Action 98/700/JHA,
stating in Article 3 that it is the Border and Coast Guard Agency that will ensure the
proper functioning of the system, its functions being to feed the system with contri-butions
made by the various Member States or other authorised users.
The new regulation also provides that a secure network should be set up for the
exchange of information not only between the national authorities of the Member
States, but also between the Member States and the Agency, as well as to serve as a
tool for operational cooperation between all of them. This new secure network will
also be used for the exchange of information with authorities in third countries where
Frontex is active, although it will be partially limited in terms of the type of data and
the extent to which it can be shared.
This secure network, referred to in the new regulation, will be based on the Euro-pean
Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), thus repealing Regulation (EU) No.
1052/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2013 establishing
a European Border Surveillance System (Eurosur). The new EUROSUR is established as
“...an integrated framework for the exchange of information and for
operational cooperation within the European Border and Coast Guard to
improve situational awareness and enhance operational capabilities for the
purpose of border management, in particular to detect, prevent and com-bat
illegal immigration and cross-border crime, and to help ensure that the
lives of migrants are protected and saved”. (Regulation (EU) 2019/1896,
p.29)22.
22 European Union. (13 November 2019). Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulations (EU) No.
1052/2013 and (EU) 2016/1624 Official Journal of the European Union L 295, 13 November 2019