EN EN EN COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, COM(2004) XXX Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders EN EN TABLE OF CONTENTS EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM .................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 4 2. Objectives and content of the proposal: from a recasting of the Common Manual to a Community code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders.... 8 3. Choice of legal basis .................................................................................................. 10 4. Subsidiarity and proportionality................................................................................. 11 5. Consequences of the various protocols annexed to the treaties ................................. 11 United Kingdom and Ireland Denmark Norway and Iceland 6. Consequences for the new Member States of the two-stage procedure for implementing instruments building on the Schengen acquis..................................... 12 7. Comments on the Articles.......................................................................................... 13 ANNEX – Provisions of the Common Manual not taken over................................................. 37 COUNCIL REGULATION establishing a Community code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders.................................................................................... 39 Title I – General provisions...................................................................................................... 43 Title II – External borders ........................................................................................................ 46 Chapter I Crossing of external borders and entry conditions................................................... 46 Chapter II Control of external borders and refusal of entry..................................................... 48 Chapter III Resources for border checks and cooperation between Member States................ 52 Chapter IV Special detailed rules for border checks and specific procedures......................... 54 Title III – Internal borders........................................................................................................ 55 Chapter I Abolition of controls at internal frontiers................................................................. 55 Chapter II Safeguard clause ..................................................................................................... 55 Title IV – Final provisions ....................................................................................................... 58 ANNEX I – Authorised border crossing-points....................................................................... 60 EN EN ANNEX II – Documentary evidence establishing the likelihood of the reasons for entry.... 186 ANNEX III – Reference amounts required for crossing borders fixed annually by the national authorities............................................................................................................................... 188 ANNEX IV – Checks at authorised border crossing-points .................................................. 198 ANNEX V – Relaxation of checks at land borders................................................................ 200 ANNEX VI – Model signposts identifying gates at frontier crossing-points ........................ 201 ANNEX VII – Affixing stamps ............................................................................................. 205 ANNEX VIII Part A: Procedures for refusing entry..................................................................................... 206 Part B: Standard form for refusing entry................................................................................ 209 ANNEX IX – List of national services responsible for border controls ................................ 211 ANNEX X – Special detailed rules for different types of border and the different means of transport used for crossing the Member States' external border ............................................ 213 ANNEX XI – Special arrangements for certain categories of persons.................................. 220 ANNEX XII – Model cards issued by Foreign Ministries..................................................... 223 ANNEX XIII – Correlation table........................................................................................... 224 EN EN EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. INTRODUCTION The Commission Communication Towards integrated management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union of 7 May 2002 (hereafter “Communication on external borders”)1 identified five essential components of the common policy on the integrated management of external borders: a) a common corpus of legislation; b) a common operational coordination and cooperation mechanism; c) a common integrated risk analysis; d) staff trained in the European dimension and interoperational equipment; e) burden-sharing between Member States in the run-up to a European Corps of Border Guards. As regards the common corpus of legislation, the recasting of the Common Manual on checks at the external borders2 was identified as a measure to be taken in the short term,3 in particular “to clarify the legal status of its provisions and make them a source of law alongside other legal instruments in place” and to “introduce into the Common Manual certain best practices, proceeding on the basis of the Schengen Catalogue of Best Practices”.4 This was incorporated in the Plan for the management of external borders of the Member States of the European Union approved by the JHA Council on 13 June 2002 and backed by the Seville European Council of 21 and 22 June. The Thessaloniki Council of 19 and 20 June 2003 urged the Commission “to present, as soon as possible, proposals on the recast of the Common Manual, including the stamping of travel documents of third-country nationals”.5 This is, therefore, an important initiative as part of the consolidation and development of the legislative side of the policy of integrated border management, 1 COM(2002) 233 final. 2 Decision of the Executive Committee of 28 April 1999 on the definitive versions of the Common Manual and the Common Consular Instructions (SCH/Com-ex (99) 13) (OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 317). An updated version of the Common Manual, without certain confidential annexes, was published in OJ C 313, 16.12.2002, p. 97. 3 Other measures proposed in the short term included the production of a practical handbook for use by border guards and also available in electronic form, and the adoption of common measures on local border traffic (see the two proposals for regulations presented by the Commission on 14.8.2003: COM(2003)502final - 2003/0193 (CNS) and 2003/0194 (CNS)). The long-term measures included a formalised process of exchanging and processing data and information between authorities operating at the external borders and those operating within the common area of freedom of movement, and the definition of an institutional and legal framework (powers, areas of action, etc.) for a future European Corps of Border Guards. 4 EU Schengen Catalogue, External border controls, removal and readmission: Recommendations and best practice, Council of the European Union, SG - DG H, 28.2.2002. 5 On this final point see the proposal for a Regulation presented by the Commission on 6.11.2003: COM(2003)664 final. EN 4 EN just as the future European Agency for the management of operational cooperation at the external borders forms the key to developing the operational side of the policy.6 Obviously, the role of the Agency will be fundamental in implementing the common rules provided for in Title II of this Regulation. An explicit reference is made to the Agency's role in Article 14 on operational cooperation between the Member States “with a view to the effective implementation of border checks” (see the comments on this Article). On the legislative side, the Common Manual, which was produced as part of the Schengen intergovernmental cooperation and incorporated in the institutional and legal framework of the European Union following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam,7 is currently the basic instrument governing controls at the external borders of the Member States of the European Union, even though certain principles also appear in the Schengen Convention itself,8 and a number of its specific provisions feature in other separate decisions.9 Although the Schengen acquis,10 and in particular the Schengen provisions that have their legal base in the EC Treaty,11 are now part of the Community acquis12 that applies to all Member States,13 it differs from normal Community law in certain respects: - it is not standard Community law in that it does not take the form of characteristic instruments such as regulations and directives. This can lead to ambiguity about the legal value of certain Schengen provisions (see the considerations on the nature of the Common Manual, below); - these are decisions and measures adopted in a purely intergovernmental framework and thus, obviously, without the participation of the Community institutions,14 and particularly the European Parliament. As a result, the question of “converting” the Schengen acquis that was being incorporated