Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova has called for equal access of all member states to the proposed Entry-Exit System of the EU to boost the efficiency of the fight against organized crime and terrorism.  

“We all should be able to make full use of the new centralized system whis is being developed,” Bachvarova said at a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Thursday, according a statement from the ministry.

The European Commission proposed earlier this month to establish an Entry-Exit System to make faster, easier and stronger the border checksfor non-EU nationals travelling to the bloc.The legislative proposal is part of the broader Smart Borders Package, addressing the role of information systems in enhancing external border management, internal security and the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Bulgaria, which is not member of the EU’s free-travel Schengen area, currently cannot use in full the potential of key information systems of the bloc. At the same time, the country ensures security along one of the most important and vulnerable EU external borders amidst the current migration crisis, Bachvarova said.

Bachvarova gave as an example the Visa Information System (VIS) of the EU which Bulgaria doesn’t use in full as the country doesn’ issue Schengen visas.

The VIS allows Schengen states to exchange visa data. It consists of a central IT system and  communication infrastructure that links that system to national systems.

The Council adopted on Thursday a directive on the use of passenger name record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime. The directive aims to regulate the transfer from the airlines to the EU member states of PNR data of passengers of international flights, as well as the processing of this data by the competent authorities.