The EU is spending almost £4 million on the IBORDERCTRL project, which involves seven member states, including the UK – although it was not made clear what the British involvement would entail.
A statement issued by the European Commission said the bloc’s external borders were coming under increasing pressure as a result of the 700 million people who cross borders into the EU every year.
The huge number of travellers made it increasingly difficult for border officers to check travel documents and biometrics for everybody in a timely fashion.
IBORDERCTRL, which is being trialled in three countries which all have borders with countries not in the EU, is aimed at delivering more efficient and secure land border crossings to help border guards spot illegal immigrants, and prevent crime and terrorism.
Project coordinator George Boultadakis of European Dynamics in Luxembourg said: “We’re employing existing and proven technologies – as well as novel ones – to empower border agents to increase the accuracy and efficiency of border checks.
“IBORDERCTRL’s system will collect data that will move beyond biometrics and on to biomarkers of deceit.
“The global maritime and border security market is growing fast in light of the alarming terror threats and increasing terror attacks taking place on European Union soil, and the migration crisis.”
The IBORDERCTRL system will require travellers will use an online application to upload pictures of their passport, visa and proof of funds, then use a webcam to answer questions from a computer-animated border guard, personalised to the traveller’s gender, ethnicity and language.
The software will be equipped with ‘deception detection’ which will analyses the micro-expressions of travellers to figure out if the interviewee is lying.
Travellers flagged as low risk during this pre-screening stage will go through a short re-evaluation of their information for entry.
Meanwhile higher-risk passengers will undergo what is described as a “more detailed check”.
Border officials will use a hand-held device to automatically cross-check information, comparing the facial images captured during the pre-screening stage to passports and photos taken on previous border crossings.
The European Commission’s statement added: “It is hoped that trials about to start in Hungary, Greece and Latvia will prove that the intelligent portable control system helps border guards reliably identify travellers engaging in criminal activity.
“The trials will start with lab testing to familiarise border guards with the system, followed by scenarios and tests in realistic conditions along the borders.
“As a consequence, the partner organisations of IBORDERCTRL are likely to benefit from this growing European security market – a sector predicted to be worth USD 146 billion (EUR 128 bn) in Europe by 2020.”
No details were provided about the reasons for selecting Hungary, Greece and Latvia.
However, in the case of the first two at least, it seems likely the measures are aimed at cracking down on migrants arriving from Syria and parts of Africa after having undertaken hazardous crossing of the Mediterranean sea.
Hungary shares a border with Serbia, which is not yet a member of the EU, while Greece shares one with Turkey.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has railed against EU immigration policy in recent years, and in July the European Commission referred his country the EU Court of Justice “for non-compliance of its asylum and return legislation with EU law”.
Speaking three months earlier at a National Day rally, Mr Orban said: “They want us to voluntarily give our country to others, to foreigners from other continents who don’t speak our language, don’t respect our culture, laws or lifestyle
“They want to exchange ours for their own. There is no exaggeration in this.”
Express.co.uk contacted the European Commission for more details about how the scheme would work, but was told nobody at European Dynamics was available as it was a public holiday in Luxembourg.