Open topic on secured and facilitated crossing of external borders

Project results are expected to contribute to the following expected outcome(s):

• Improved border crossing experience for travellers and border authorities’ staff (including customs, coast and border guards), while maintaining security and monitoring of movements across EU external borders, supporting the Schengen area, reducing illegal movements of people and goods across those borders and protecting fundamental rights of travellers, both EU citizens and Third Country Nationals.

Under this topic, proposals are welcome to address new, upcoming or unforeseen challenges and/or creative or disruptive solutions for improving capabilities of practitioners for the secured and facilitated checks of crossings of external borders. Contexts and scenarios in Europe’s border regions that may in the future be impacted by geopolitical instabilities or tensions from outside the EU, and need sustained and improved surveillance and reaction capabilities, could be particularly considered. Moreover, mechanisms for detecting the presence of threats in travel flows should be investigated. If they relate to some of the topics covered by Horizon Europe Calls Effective Management of EU External Borders 2021-2022 or 2023-2024, the proposals should convincingly explain how they will build on and not duplicate them.

Proposals may also address capabilities related to possible future digitalised travel credentials (DTC), including though not limited to: Type-1 and Type-2 and forward integration with secure digital citizenship wallet(s); identification and verification in the context of border checks; optimisation of resources in the context of border checks.

According to the European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG) Capability Roadmap, legal border crossings should be as swift and simple as possible, preferably fully automated. Border Crossing Points should also have the ability to detect any unauthorised crossings of persons or goods.

Examples of technologies and solutions that may be relevant for this topic include but are not limited to: secure and private data approaches for applications in border checks; fuzzy searches capabilities; data communication, translation and sharing solutions; biometrics; age assessment methods; fraudulent documents detection; automation, exchange and interoperability for systems involved in border checks.

Projects should integrate aspects of:

• perspectives of safeguarding and promoting human rights, developing solutions that contribute to those safeguarding and promotion;
• inputs from human rights, law and ethical perspectives, as well as the consideration and views of individuals and society and the societal dimension, including a gender sensitive approach, as appropriate; proposals can engage with citizens and civil society for wider input and support;
• aspects of cybersecurity of the technology proposed, and the protection of communication systems and networks involved in the solutions, if and as relevant.

Proposals that include solutions and/or methods that would contribute to a lower environmental impact and footprint, better cost-efficiency, better energy-efficiency, and/or better operational autonomy of the capabilities and solutions in this topic, would be welcome.

Depending on the particular scope of the proposal, participation of Police and/or Customs Authorities is welcome.

To ensure the active involvement of and timely feedback from relevant security practitioners, proposals should plan a mid-term deliverable consisting in the assessment of the project’s mid-term outcomes, performed by the practitioners involved in the project.