The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ (EPP, CZ) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion on behalf of the Union of the Agreement between the European Union and the Kingdom of Norway on supplementary rules in relation to the instrument for financial support for external borders and visa, as part of the Internal Security Fund for the period 2014 to 2020.
The committee recommended the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of the Agreement.
As a reminder, the main aim of the ISF Borders and Visa is to ensure a high level of security in the Union while facilitating legitimate travel through a uniform and high level of control of the external border and the effective processing of Schengen visas. The funding of around EUR 2.8 billion up to 2020 - mostly via national programmes - is to be used inter alia for building infrastructure needed at border crossing points and for border surveillance, funding the IT systems required by the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR), as well as for actions to facilitate efficient management of migration flows, processing of visa applications and consular co-operation.
Therefore, the committee, which supports the proposal, called on the European Parliament to give its consent to the conclusion of such an Agreement.