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DCAF Field Activity of the Schengen Integration Task Force Group
BCP and BSU in Albnia, Macedonia and Montenegro - The Schengen Integration Task Force under the auspices of the DCAF Border Security Programme has been mandated by the ministers to provide specific assistance to border police services and MoI experts in the process of the preparation and undertaking EU membership and Schengen integration related responsibilities as well as to give the recommendations and to highlight best practises of implementation of the relevant regulations and other documents by providing examples in order to assist beneficiary states to apply the Schengen acquis correctly. The participants of the DCAF Field Activity held between 7-9 July 2014 had the opportunity to visit the Border Crossing Points (BCP) and Border Surveillance Units (BSU) in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, together with DCAF and EU experts, in the role of an evaluation committee, to provide practical insight and complement the evaluation conducted via the Schengen Self-Evaluation Module.
The main objective of the field visit was to be familiarised with the evaluation methodology from the preparation to implementation in the areas of management, risk analysis and threats, controls and procedures, infrastructure and equipment, and staff training at the BCP, as well as the strategy of the border surveillance, operational effectiveness, personnel, resources (equipment available for surveillance), level of controls at external borders, situation awareness (description of methods of surveillance used in order to detect and identify potential illegal crossing of the border), and reaction capability (ability to encounter incidents - routine situations and situations posing an intensified threat) at the BSU.