European Border Surveillance System

{{Short description|Surveillance system of the European Union}}

The European Border Surveillance System (commonly abbreviated Eurosur) is a surveillance system of the European Union (EU) that uses drones, reconnaissance aircraft, offshore sensors and satellite remote sensing, to track illegal immigration into the member states of the European Union. The program was put into effect by the European Parliament on October 10, 2013. On December 2, 2013, Eurosur was started in 18 EU member states and Norway.{{cite web | url=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Europa-setzt-neues-System-an-seinen-Grenzen-ein-Eurosur-startet-2058328.html |title=Europa setzt neues System an seinen Grenzen ein: Eurosur startet |date=December 2013 |publisher=heise.de |access-date=2013-12-02}}

Eurosur is primarily a program that allows exchange of information, that supports the cooperation of national immigration agencies. Its goal is to gain information about recent refugee movements and the activity of human trafficking organizations as quickly as possible.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}{{Cite journal|last=Rijpma, Jorrit, and Mathias Vermeulen|title=EUROSUR: saving lives or building borders?|journal=European Security}}

The rescue of people in distress has also been adopted into the Eurosur regulation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/eurosur100.html|title = EU-Parlament stimmt Grenzüberwachungssystem "Eurosur" zu}} Different aspects of the program are being criticized.{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/eurosur-ueberwachung-statt-rettung-a-927140.html|title = Eurosur: Überwachung statt Rettung|newspaper = Der Spiegel|date = 10 October 2013|last1 = Schmitz|first1 = Gregor Peter}}

As of October 2013, 244 million Euros have been secured from the EU budget for the installation and maintenance of the system until 2020. Critics expect the costs of the project to surpass one billion Euros - other sources however mention expected costs of around 340 million Euros.{{cite web | url=http://www.euractiv.de/soziales-europa/artikel/parlament-sagt-ja-zu-ueberwachungssystem-eurosur-008106 |title=Parlament sagt ja zu Überwachungssystem EUROSUR |date=10 October 2013 |access-date=2013-10-14}}