The EU Council on Friday gave final approval to the new Schengen Borders Code, a set of EU rules governing the management of internal and external borders, as well as border controls for persons.
“Traveling in the Schengen area without border controls is one of the EU’s major achievements. With today’s vote, we have given Member States the necessary tools to maintain such borderless travel within Schengen while securing external borders, tackling irregular migration and public health risks,” said Anneliese Verlinden, Minister of the Interior of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU.
According to the council communiqué, this “reform plays an important role in making the Schengen area more resilient to current and future crises at its external borders.”
The regulation approved by the EU Council provides the possibility of adopting “pan-European measures that restrict the access of third-country nationals to the European Union in the event of a large-scale public health emergency.”
The regulation also introduces a procedure “to combat the secondary movement of migrants (refuseniks) from one Member State to another,” and offers solutions to situations where migrants are used at borders for political purposes.
The document explains the rules concerning the possible temporary introduction of controls at internal borders, ensuring that such actions will remain a measure of last resort when there could be “a serious threat to public policy or internal security”.
In such cases, EU states will have to assess the necessity and proportionality of the decision, as well as assess whether the goals pursued cannot be achieved by other means, Brussels explains.
At the same time, the revised code sets a maximum duration for which such controls at internal borders can be maintained. It can remain in force for a maximum of two years. In exceptional situations, internal border controls may be extended twice for a further 6 months, with the possibility of a one-year extension.
This Council Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall be directly applicable in EU countries.
