Innovating to respect the fundaMental rights of PeRsOns in Vulnerable situations crossing the EU’s external borders

2026-07-22

IMPROV-EU is a research, implementation and dissemination project with the objective of developing and sharing an innovative protocol, based on best practices, to streamline the implementation of the provisions related to persons in vulnerable situations of the European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG) Fundamental Rights Strategy at the national level in multiple European Union (EU) Member States. The project, which has two Beneficiaries (Profundo Research Foundation and EMET Foundation) and two Associated Partners (the Spanish National Police, as the competent national authority for border management in Spain, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency), has three main components: (1) jointly develop an innovative protocol for the identification, support and referral of women and children in vulnerable situations, including asylum seekers and refugees, in the context of border management, building on the existing collaboration between Programa ÖDOS and the Spanish National Police, and based on a comprehensive research process about best practices in Spain, Italy and Greece (the innovative protocol will be composed of information materials, a training curriculum, standardised procedures, needs for interpreters and cultural mediators, and concrete examples of joint projects or undertakings with international organisations and/or non-governmental organizations); (2) jointly train a group of representatives from the Spanish National Police in the practical implementation of the innovative protocol, with a series of workshop preceding the training sessions to align fundamental rights training with standard operating procedures and incentives; and (3) share the innovative protocol (including lessons learned after initial implementation in Spain and recommendations on how to adapt the protocol to other types of persons in vulnerable situations) with the competent national authorities and key stakeholders in other main first entry EU Member States, starting with Italy and Greece.

Netherlands

2025-12-01