On Tuesday 7 March, the Council of the EU ratified the reform of the Schengen Border Code. This seeks to authorised systematic controls of all travellers, including Europeans, crossing the EU’s external borders. The European Parliament adopted this reform on 16 February (see EUROPE 11727).
The new regulation compels officials at air, sea and land borders to carry out controls of all travellers on the basis of police databases, such as the Schengen Information System or Interpol databases on stolen documents or those that have disappeared, in view of tracking journeys possibly made for terrorist purposes. Controls will be mandatory at all air, sea and land borders at both entry and exit points.
Changes planned by the regulation: at airport borders, member states will be allowed to carry out “targeted” controls over a six-month transition period, once the new regulation enters into force. This timeframe could subsequently be extended for a maximum 18-month period in exceptional cases, for example, if airports need to adapt because they do not have the infrastructure to enable them to carry out the systematic controls. If these systematic controls create long delays at maritime and terrestrial borders, member states will be able to carry out “targeted” controls on the condition that the risk assessment has demonstrated that this measure does not create any threats, particularly in terms of internal security or public order. (Original report in French by Solenn Paulic)