Apart from joining the euro, Malta will also be joining, at least at the maritime level, the Schengen area on 31 December.

Portuguese officials unveiled a new software tool last Tuesday that will help nine EU member States speed up the opening of their borders under the 1985 Schengen agreement.

The application, called ‘SISone4all’, was developed by the Portuguese border authorities and Portuguese company Critical Software.

It will allow nine EU member States – Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Czech Republic, to join the Schengen Information System – a database of information related to border security and law enforcement – at the maritime and terrestrial border level, by 31 December 2007.

The air borders of the nine countries are scheduled to be open by March 2008.

“In a way, the Portuguese presidency of the EU started today wiith the ‘SISone4all’,” said Prime Minister Jose Socrates at a ceremony attended by ministers from the nine countries.

Portugal assumes the rotating EU presidency in July.

“Nothing reinforces the credibility and trust of citizens in the European Union more than the accomplishment of the freedom of circulation project,” Socrates added.

The Schengen accord, signed in 1985, is an agreement between European countries allowing the abolition of border controls. Thirty countries signed the agreement, all members of the EU except Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.