e-Borders 

Statement: Gus Lewis, RYA Government and Legal Affairs manager, 07 April 2011

“The RYA does not believe that implementing the e-Borders programme in the recreational boating sector would be the most appropriate, proportionate, effective or efficient mechanism for securing the entire sea border.  

The RYA has serious concerns that the e-Borders reporting methodology is simply not designed to accommodate the unscheduled activities of the recreational boating sector. In the absence of a carrier ticketing system, a passport ‘control line’ and attendant law enforcement assets, a system that relies on self-reporting by the law abiding majority is unlikely to present any meaningful challenge to those intent on avoiding detection at the border and the rationale for applying e-Borders controls across the geographic sea border is thus flawed.  

As such, the extension of the programme as we understand it to the recreational boating sector would, at significant cost to the taxpayer, fail to enhance detection at the border as intended and would not deliver value for money.  

In addition, the European Commission has raised concerns over the compatibility of the proposed e-Borders scheme with the EU Directive on the freedom of movement of individuals and the assurances that the previous Government gave to the Commission in response appear to be inconsistent with a system intended to collect and analyse information on everyone who travels to or from the UK." 

In light of the above, if the e-Borders programme is to be implemented in the recreational boating sector then in our view the most appropriate, proportionate and cost-effective solution would be for only those persons who are not UK or EU citizens and who are on voyages outside the common travel area to be subject to a requirement to provide their details to the UKBA.”