The European Parliament''s Fisheries Committee has empowered the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) to use the data provided by its ship reporting systems to detect vessels carrying migrants.
The EFCA, which centralises and coordinates EU member states’ fisheries inspections, will also be able to and conduct new types of operations to disrupt people smuggling routes.
Under the updated regulation, which the Fisheries Committee approved on Tuesday, the EFCA will cooperate with the future European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Maritime Safety Agency to support national authorities doing coastguard tasks at national and EU levels, and where appropriate at international level too. The proposed law aims to improve synergies between the agencies’ services.
The EFCA’s new, enhanced powers include:
- Sharing information generated by data from reporting systems such as the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and the Electronic Reporting System (ERS) which could help migration control by detecting vessels that stop in a port to take immigrants on board or move unusually slowly because they are heavily loaded with migrants.
- Capacity sharing, including the planning and implementation of multipurpose operations and the sharing of assets and other capabilities across sectors and borders.
- Providing surveillance and communication services that use state-of-the-art technology, including space-based and ground infrastructure and sensors mounted on any kind of platform, such as drones.
- Capacity building, by elaborating guidelines, recommendations and best practices, plus supporting staff training and exchanges.
The updated EFCA regulation still needs to be approved by Parliament as a whole. The plenary vote is scheduled for June and it will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal.
