Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Technology, Telecomunications, Transport

Estonian interior minister Ken-Marti Vaher said that Estonia expressed its support to the package for three reasons. The planned changes should accelerate border crossing and enable to better organise border control. Stamping passports will be replaced in the future with an electronic registry and automated border crossing gates will come in use.

It will be also easier to identify illegal immigrants and the systems have an important role in fighting cross-border crime.

"Although the proposal of the European Commission doesn’t prescribe in phase one the access of customs and police institutions to data of border crossers, Estonia and the majority of member states are on the position that granting such access is critical from the point of view of fighting cross-border crime," said Vaher.

The e-borders package prescribes launching pan-European entrance and exist system (EES) and registered travellers programme (RTP). Managing and administering the systems is handled by EU IT agency that has headquarters in Tallinn.