The Schengen acquis integrated into the European Union ð 1 May 1999 Notice This booklet, which has been prepared by the General Secretariat of the Council, does not commit either the Community institutions or the governments of the Member States. Please note that only the text that shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities L 239, 22 September 2000, is deemed authentic. For further information, please contact the Information Policy, Transparency and Public Relations Division at the following address: General Secretariat of the Council Rue de la Loi 175 B-1048 Brussels Fax 32 (0)2 285 5332 E-mail:
[email protected] Internet: http://ue.eu.int A great deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2001 ISBN 92-824-1776-X European Communities, 2001 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Belgium 3 FOREWORD When the Amsterdam Treaty entered into force on 1 May 1999, cooperation measures hitherto in the Schengen framework were integrated into the European Union framework. The Schengen Protocol annexed to the Amsterdam Treaty lays down detailed arrangements for that integration process. An annex to the protocolspecifies what is meant by ‘Schengen acquis’. The decisions and declarations adopted within the Schengen institutional framework by the Executive Committee have never before been published. The GeneralSecretariat of the Councilhas decided to produce for those interested a collection of the Executive Committee decisions and declarations integrated by the Councildecision of 20 May 1999 (1999/435/EC).