The vote in the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties on the reform of the Schengen Borders Code is not expected to take place on 13 April as initially planned. It is due to take place on 26 April instead, although this date has yet to be confirmed, EUROPE learned on Monday 3 April.
The text, tabled by French MEP Sylvie Guillaume (S&D) (see EUROPE 13063/10, 13132/7), has not yet been supported by all groups. There are still sticking points for some groups over the duration of internal border controls as set out in Article 27a-5.
In the initial drafting of this reform presented at the end of 2021, the Commission’s proposal made it possible to envisage internal border controls for an almost unlimited period, i.e. renewable beyond an initial period of 2 years.
In June, the Council of the EU then proposed to limit these provisions to major exceptional situations and to require a much more thorough risk assessment when an additional period of up to 6 months is notified.
The MEP had proposed deleting Article 27a-5, which in her view, was not justified after the strict ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the increase in internal border controls (see EUROPE 12939/9). A further technical meeting will take place on 12 April. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)