|
19 November 2009 
13th meeting of the Advisory Board of the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine convened in Odessa. On 16 November in Odessa, at its 13th meeting, the Advisory Board of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine reviewed the activity of the Mission in cooperation with partners from Moldovan and Ukrainian border management services, law enforcement agencies, and government institutions. The meeting was chaired by the Head of the EC Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira.
The Advisory Board took note of the EUBAM Activity Report for March – September 2009, providing an overview of the steps undertaken and results achieved by the Mission and its partner services. The Board highlighted activities that have contributed to enhancing the effectiveness of border guard and customs controls, capacity building activities, enforcement measures, targeted monitoring actions, the intensification of information exchange, the implementation of joint border control operations, common analytical work, and public communication activities. The Advisory Board endorsed the findings and recommendations on Targeted Monitoring Actions (TMA) aimed at assessing the application of EU standards in border management and customs procedures in Moldova and Ukraine, presented by the Head of the Mission, Dr Ferenc Banfi. TMAs include evaluation of border controls at BCPs and the Odessa sea port, surveillance of the “green” and “blue border”, control processes at the internal/administrative boundary line in the Republic of Moldova, and all aspects of customs clearance and procedures at inland customs houses, as well as the exchange of pre-arrival information between the two customs services. The delegations of border guard and customs services of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine provided the Board with updates on the implementation of the recommendations of the Needs Assessment and Recommendations Report since October 2008.
On July 15 the Commission of EU External Relations Directorate General prolonged the Mission for another two years, until 30 November 2011, based on the request of the two governments. The Board approved the Action Plan of EUBAM for Phase 7 (December 2009 – November 2010), presented by the Head of the Mission. The Advisory Board acknowledged the new Internal Strategy of the Mission, as well as the new organisational structure which will contribute to the implementation of the main priorities of the Mission and the achievement of good results, especially in capacity building areas.
The participants of the Advisory Board meeting acknowledged EU support in the field of Border Management and took note of the presentation of recent developments made by the EC Delegation to Ukraine and Belarus.
The Advisory Board is composed of the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Moldovan and Ukrainian customs and border guard services, the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the EU Special Representative for Moldova, the EU Presidency, as well as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The following institutions have observer status: the Ministries of Internal Affairs of both countries; the Ministries of Justice of both countries, the Information and Security Service of the Republic of Moldova, the Security Service of Ukraine, the General Prosecutors Offices of both countries, and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
| 
