At an extraordinary meeting in Brussels, convened after the attacks in Paris on November 13, the Ministers of Interior and Justice of EU Member States agreed that checks in the criminal data systems should be run for all people crossing the external borders of the EU. The European parliament was asked to approve creating a flight passenger database. Creating Passenger Name Record (PNR) has long been postponed by MEPs because of debates about privacy. Subject of inspections will also be people with the right of free movement, as changes are expected in the Schengen Borders Code by the end of the year. The Legal Service of the Council of Ministers made the important statement that the external EU borders of Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Croatia are considered borders of the Schengen area, and this suggests that Bulgaria should be part of the decision–making process.

Immediately after the forum, Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova said that this country not only agreed with the planned measures, but was already ready to apply them.

Indeed, just hours after the attacks in Paris, Bulgarian authorities introduced 100-percent inspection regime at the EU external border. People passing through internal borders are also thoroughly checked.

Bulgaria considers implementation of the PNR directive to be of crucial importance and it is ready to give a green light to its own PNR department at the State Agency for National Security by the middle of 2016. Despite the hesitation of the European Parliament, Bulgaria has already developed a similar system. The government has recently approved a draft agreement with the US on the exchange of information about passengers.  The agreement provides for running checks to identify potentially dangerous persons involved in terrorism. It is important to point out that the agreement will be implemented according to the requirements of an agreement between the European Union and the United States for the use and exchange of PNR data, signed back in 2011.

An extraordinary meeting of the Council of European Ministers of Interior and Justice showed the need for immediate measures against terrorism, including prevention of radicalization. In Brussels Bulgarian Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov voiced his support. In fact a few months before the Paris attacks Bulgaria prepared a draft strategy for combating radicalization and updated it just 2 days after the terror in France.

A common topic during the extraordinary meeting of Ministers of Interior and Justice in Brussels was the need for decisions to be quickly put into practice. Bulgaria has already marked progress in implementation of measures, but it is yet to be seen how these efforts will be synchronised with those of other EU countries. Some serious legislative work also needs to be done in the National Assembly, especially in relation to combating radicalisation.

English: Alexander Markov