On 18-19 October 2022, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, will hold a Conference on the Entry/Exit System in the Maritime Domain, hosted by the Royal Netherlands Marechausse in Rotterdam. To ensure the participation of operational staff (BCP level), the event will also be streamed online.
The Entry-Exit System (EES) will register the entry and exit at the EU external borders of non-EU nationals who are not residing in the Schengen Area.
The conference will focus on EES processes for maritime border crossing points, covering four topics:
- The handling of cruise ship passengers, providing the opportunity to compare approaches taken by Member States to meet EES specific requirements, as well as preparations by carriers;
- The case of pleasure boats passengers and steps taken to ensure EES requirements are fulfilled in marinas;
- Technical solutions to facilitate the user experience in ferry connections and collaboration between border control authorities and port authorities;
- Presentation of relevant innovative technologies by industry representatives.
For the topic dedicated to innovative technologies, industry presentations will address the latest innovative technologies for the future of EES implementation. Several technological aspects may be of interest for the conference:
Queue management for pedestrians and vehicles when embarking/disembarking ferries, cruise ships and associated measures for terminals in a maritime environment.
Passenger registration by biometric data acquisition and document checks from fixed, temporary (easily deployable) and mobile solutions.
Passengers’ pre-registrations through web services for a seamless border crossing experience.
Improved overall traveler experience by reducing waiting time and providing a user-friendly human-machine interface with multi-lingual visual/audio feedback.
If your company is interested in participating in the industry discussions panel, Frontex invites you to fill in the following form not later than 7 October 2022.
Industry representatives will be selected based on the relevance and innovative aspect of their proposed solution in relation to the conference thematic focus (EES solutions in the maritime domain) and participation in panel discussions will be limited to 3 selected companies. Each company representative will be given a 15-minute slot on the afternoon of the first day of the Conference on 18th of October. Participation in the conference is by invitation only. Registration details will be sent only to participants who will have received a formal invitation. The Agency will not cover travel, accommodation or any other expenses related to your attendance. No fees will be charged for attendance.
Speakers and moderators will be Member State experts directly involved in the preparations for the EES implementation in the maritime domain, representatives of the European Commission, cruise-ship associations, port authorities and industry, who will present the actual challenges faced at BCPs by the involved actors (e.g., border guards, carriers, operators) and the way in which they will interact and share responsibilities.
The event will be of value to maritime border crossing points managers and staff who will be able to hear about solutions and challenges in different Member States, preparations being made by carriers, and examples of collaboration between border control authorities and port authorities.
