Current Digital Dimensions of the EU Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

The legal nature and institutional mechanisms of the digital border control systems of the European Union (EU) are analyzed based on case studies of the implementation of the Entry/Exit System and “Smart Borders” project. The relevance of the research is due to the introduction of the Entry/Exit System on 12 October 2025, which represents the world’s first multi-level digital border control instrument operating at the level of a major supranational integration entity. Such a transition to a new model of external border management based on centralized data processing, automated control, and deep digital integration necessitates a comprehensive legal analysis that takes into account issues of institutional development and the protection of fundamental rights. The purpose of the study is to identify the essential characteristics of the legal regulation of large-scale information systems of the EU that ensure automated border control, as well as to determine the institutional and methodological foundations of their functioning within the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). The methodological framework of the research is based on a comprehensive approach that includes a normative legal analysis of European Union regulations, an institutional analysis of the development of the AFSJ, and an examination of the architecture and operational mechanisms of the Entry/Exit System and related digital platforms. The legal regulation of large-scale information systems of the European Union is shown to be characterized by a centralized governance architecture, the mandatory application of unified standards for the processing of biographical and biometric data, a multi-layered access regime, and the prioritization of the principles of personal data protection and proportionality of interference. It is demonstrated that the functioning of such systems is based on the integration of national components into a single digital framework under the management of the eu-LISA Agency, which ensures technical operation, legal interoperability, and infrastructure resilience. The “Smart Borders” project is further revealed to reflect a transition from fragmented information solutions to a comprehensive model of automated border control, while the abandonment of the initial two-system design was driven by institutional and technical constraints. Key legal risks associated with the operation of the Entry/Exit System, which functions as a structural element in the formation of a single digital space of the EU and deepening integration within the AFSJ, are revealed to include the consequences of data errors, integration with other information systems, and the impact of centralized architecture on migration procedures. The study, which contributes to the development of scholarly understanding of digital sovereignty and transformation of border controls, has relevance for the analysis of similar processes in other integration entities.

1. Alsaleh, A. (2024). The impact of technological advancement on culture and society. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 32140. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-83995-z

2. Baceiredo Macho, I. (2025). Shaping EU borders: An analysis of the technological and institutional developments in border management in the European Union. Peace & Security — Paix et Sécurité Internationales, (13), Article 1203. http://dx.doi.org/10.25267/Paix_secur_int.2025.i13.1203

3. Bigo, D. (2022). The digitalisation of border controls and their corporate actors. In M. Bosworth, & L. Zedner (Eds.), Privatising border control: Law at the limits of the sovereign state (pp. 229–247). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192857163.003.0013

4. Broeders, D. (2007). The new digital borders of Europe: EU databases and the surveillance of irregular migrants. International Sociology, 22(1), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/0268580907070126

5. Chouliaraki, L., & Georgiou, M. (2019). The digital border: Mobility beyond territorial and symbolic Divides. European Journal of Communication, 34(6), 594–605. https://doi.org/10.1177/02673231198861

6. Delioglu, F. (2025). Technology at the borders: Surveillance, control and resistance in EU migration governance. Balsillie Papers, 6(6). https://doi.org/10.51644/bap66

7. Entin, M. L., Voynikov, V. V., & Torkunova, E. A. (2018). Novyy etap v institutsional'no-pravovom obustroystve prostranstva svobody, bezopasnosti i pravosudiya ES [The new stage of institutional and legal foundation of the EU area of freedom, security and justice]. Moscow Journal of International Law, (2), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.24833/0869-0049-2018-2-102-114

8. Jeandesboz, J. (2016). Smartening border security in the European Union: An associational inquiry. Security Dialogue, 47(4), 292–309. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010616650226

9. Klimburg-Witjes, N., & Huettenrauch, C. F. (2021). Contextualizing security innovation: Responsible research and innovation at the smart border? Science and Engineering Ethics, 27, Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-021-00292-y

10. Kontak, M. (2024). Biometric borders envisaged by Frontex: Fundamental rights in the backseat. European Papers, 9(2), 621–640. https://doi.org/10.15166/2499-8249/773

11. Lehtonen, P., & Aalto, P. (2017). Smart and secure borders through automated border control systems in the EU? The views of political stakeholders in the Member States. European Security, 26(2), 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2016.1276057

12. Martins, B. O., Lidén, K., & Jumbert, M. G. (2022). Border security and the digitalisation of sovereignty: Insights from EU borderwork. European Security, 31(3), 475–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2022.2101884

13. Skleparis, D. (2016). (In)securitization and illiberal practices on the fringe of the EU. European Security, 25(1), 92–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2015.1080160

14. Topak, O. E. (2014). The new borders of the European Union: Digital surveillance and social sorting. In M. Okyayuz, P. Herrmann, & C. Dorrity (Eds.), Migration global processes caught in national answers (pp. 17–35). Wiener Verlag für Sozialforschung.

15. Voynikov, V. V. (2019a). Pravovoye osnovy prostranstva svobody, bezopasnosti i pravosudiya Evropeyskogo Soyuza [The legal basis of the EU area of freedom, security and justice] (Dr. Sci. dissertation, MGIMO University). https://mgimo.ru/upload/diss/2019/voynikov-diss.pdf

16. Voynikov, V. V. (2019b). Pravovoye regulirovaniye informatsionnykh sistem prostranstva svobody, bezopasnosti i pravosudiya ES [Legal regulation of the information systems within the EU' area of freedom, security and justice]. Vestnik Saratovskoy Gosudarstvennoy Yuridicheskoy Akademii, (4), 99–111.

17. Zaloilo, M. V. (2024). Pravovyye problemy obespecheniya tekhnologicheskogo suvereniteta [Legal issues of ensuring technological sovereignty]. Journal of Digital Technologies and Law, 2(3), 500–520. https://doi.org/10.21202/jdtl.2024.26