Borderless innovations: EU security event in Narva

On 5 and 6 March, DG HOME, under the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS), together with the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, the Estonian Research Council, the Tallinn University of Technology, and the Estonian Police and Border Guard Boardorganised a conference on "Borderless Border Management".

This event was hosted by Narva, a city on the border of EU and NATO with Russia and a venue that added weight to the conference, as it directly experiences instrumentalisation of migration, GPS jamming, river border violations, threats to underwater Baltic infrastructures, and other Russian hybrid threats.

Policymakers, research institutions and the private sector came together to discuss solutions that will directly impact the security of Estonia and Europe as a whole. Topics of focus included how to turn evolving technologies (such as drones and counter-drone, AI for border surveillance, and digital borders) into available European solutions that provide needed capabilities while ensuring our strategic autonomy and compliance with EU rules.

More than 200 participants from 20 countries attended the event. Half of them were from border guard, coast guard and police authorities from EU Member States, Norway, Ukraine and the UK. Other attendees included representatives from the European Commission, Frontex, eu-LISA and Interpol, academia and industry.

In addition to seven panel discussions, participants had a chance to see demonstrations from 27 European companies from various countries. Thirteen EU-funded projects, supported by the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI), Internal Security Fund (ISF), Horizon Europe, and Frontex, were also showcased: AutoBorder, BorderForce, COURAGEOUS, EINSTEIN, ENLETS, OnMoveID, ROBORDER, SEAGUARD,  SEAVISTA, and SMAUG.

Visits to the Border Control Point between the EU and Russia and to the Training Centre of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences were also included in the programme. For many participants, the visit to the Border Control Point with Russia was a truly unique experience.

The event contributed to advancing integration of foresight and innovation into European Integrated Border Management (EIBM) and allowed participant to find new European technologies to follow-up in national pilots, suggesting that the co-organised event may be repeated in 2027.

The Commission will continue to facilitate Member States authorities to exploit European innovations fostering new cross-border collaborations for European security technologies; invest in research in European technologies for border management and security; and promote EU-wide initiatives and procurement rules to ensure efficient exploitation of European security technologies.