Internal Security Fund

The ISF Borders and Visa instrument's main objective is to contribute to ensuring a high level of security in the Union while facilitating legitimate travel. This goal will be achieved through the Fund's support to actions which will aim to reach the following specific objectives:

• Visa:the effective processing of Schengen visas by supporting a common visa policy which aims at facilitating legitimate travel to the EU, providing a high quality of service to visa applicants, ensuring equal treatment of non-EU nationals and tackling irregular migration;
• Borders: achieving a uniform and high level of control of the external borders by supporting integrated borders management, harmonising border management measures within the Union and sharing information among EU States, and between EU States and Frontex, in order to halt irregular migration and ensure the smooth crossing of the external borders.

For the 2014-20 period, EUR 2.76 billion is available for funding actions under the ISF Borders and Visa instrument, of which EUR 1.55 billion will be channeled through shared management and EUR 1.06 through direct management. EUR 154 million is reserved for the Special Transit Scheme (Lithuania).

Concrete actions to be funded through this instrument can include a wide range of initiatives, such as setting up and running IT systems, acquisition of operational equipment, promoting and developing training schemes and ensuring administrative and operational coordination and cooperation.

2014-2020

Supported activities

Actions in Member States:

• Actions improving police cooperation and coordination between law enforcement authorities, including joint investigation teams and any other form of cross-border joint operation, the access to and exchange of information and interoperable technologies;
• Networking, mutual confidence, understanding and learning, the identification, exchange and dissemination of know-how, experience and good practices, information sharing, shared situation awareness and foresight, contingency planning and interoperability;
• Analytical, monitoring and evaluation activities, including studies and threat,
• risk and impact assessments;
• Awareness raising, dissemination and communication activities;
• Acquisition and/or further upgrading of technical equipment, secure facilities, infrastructures, related buildings and systems, especially ICT systems and their components, including for the purpose of European cooperation on cyber crime, notably with the European Cybercrime Centre;
• Exchange, training and education of staff and experts of relevant authorities, including language training and joint exercises or programmes;
• Measures deploying, transferring, testing and validating new methodology or technology, including pilot projects and follow-up measures to Union funded security research projects.

Actions in third countries:

• Actions improving police cooperation and coordination between law enforcement authorities, including joint investigation teams and any other form of cross-border joint operation, the access to and exchange of information and interoperable technologies;
• Networking, mutual confidence, understanding and learning, the identification,
• Exchange and dissemination of know-how, experience and good practices, information sharing, shared situation awareness and foresight, contingency planning and interoperability;
• Acquisition and/or further upgrading of technical equipment, including ICT systems and their components;
• Exchange, training and education of staff and experts of relevant authorities, including language training;
• Awareness raising, dissemination and communication activities
• Threat, risk and impact assessments;
• Studies and pilot projects

Implementation

The global resources shall be implemented through the following means:
• National programmes;
• Union actions;
• Technical assistance;
• Emergency assistance;

The countries associated with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis shall participate in the Instrument, in accordance with this Regulation.

 Within the Internal Security Fund global envelope, the resources indicatively available for the implementation of this Specific Regulation amount to EUR 1,128 million. Indicatively, 50% of this amount (EUR 564 million) should be used for national programmes of Member States (shared management) while the other 50% (EUR 564 million) should be centrally managed to fund Union actions, emergency actions and technical assistance.

Supported activities

Actions in Member States:

• Border crossing infrastructures, buildings and systems required at border crossing points and for surveillance between border crossing points and effective tackling of illegal crossing of the external borders;
• Operating equipment, means of transport and communication systems required for effective border control and the detection of persons, such as fixed terminals for VIS, SIS and the European Image Archiving System (FADO), including state-of-the-art technology;
• IT systems for the management of migration flows across borders;
• Infrastructures, buildings and operating equipment required for the processing of visa applications and consular co-operation;
• Studies, pilot projects and actions aiming to foster interagency cooperation within Member States and between Member States, and implementing the recommendations, operational standards and best practices resulting from the operational cooperation between Member States and Union Agencies.

Actions in third countries:

• Information systems, tools or equipment for sharing information between Member States and third countries;
• Actions aiming to foster operational co-operation between Member States and third countries, including joint operations;
• Studies, events, training, equipment and pilot projects to provide ad hoc technical and operational expertise to third countries;
• Studies, events, training, equipment and pilot projects implementing specific recommendations, operational standards and best practices, resulting from the operational cooperation between Member States and Union agencies in third countries.

Implementation

The global resources shall be implemented through the following means:
• National programmes;
• Union actions;
• Technical assistance;
• Emergency assistance;

The countries associated with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis shall participate in the Instrument, in accordance with this Regulation.

Within the Internal Security Fund global envelope, the resources available for the implementation of this specific Regulation amount to EUR 3,520 million. Indicatively, about 61% of this amount (EUR 2,150 million) should be used for national programmes of Member States and the support to the Special Transit Scheme implemented by Lithuania, 31% (EUR 1,100 million) should be dedicated to the development of the smart border package and the remainder should then be available to fund Union actions, emergency actions and technical assistance, whilst taking into account also the contributions expected from the Schengen associated countries, which would be added to the total envelope.

Legal basis: REGULATION (EU) No 513/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 April 2014 establishing, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for police
cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management and repealing Council Decision 2007/125/JHA

Legal basis: REGULATION (EU) No 515/2014 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 April 2014 establishing, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for external
borders and visa and repealing Decision No 574/2007/EC

There is no particular deadline for this call.

In total: € 6,901 mln 

All EU States except Ireland and the United Kingdom participate in the implementation of the ISF-Borders instrument. The four Schengen Associated Countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) also participate in the ISF Borders and Visa instrument. Examples of beneficiaries of the programmes implemented under this Fund can be state and federal authorities, local public bodies, non-governmental organisations, humanitarian organisations, private and public law companies and education and research organisations.

Police cooperation, preventing and combatting crime, and crisis management (ISF Police)

All EU States except Denmark and the United Kingdom participate in the implementation of the ISF Police. Examples of beneficiaries of the programmes implemented under this Fund can be state and federal authorities, local public bodies, non-governmental organisations and private and public law companies.

EU countries except Denmark (for ISF Police) and United Kingdom (for both Borders and Visa and ISF Police)