Brussels, 08/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - During the meeting, last 29 May (on the sidelines of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, JHA) of the mixed committee between the EU, Iceland and Norway (associate third countries with the Schengen acquis), the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers approved the convention relating to mutual assistance in criminal matters (that was then signed) and looked at the assessments made in the framework of preparations by the Nordic States for the application of Schengen. The JHA Council noted "with satisfaction" that "significant progress" was accomplished and adds in its Conclusions: "The results of the evaluations carried out through visits and replies to the questionnaire on the legal conditions necessary for the acquis to come into force show that the Nordic States were preparing adequately for full application of Schengen. The Council believes that if all the objectives described in the reports are fulfilled within the deadline and if no conflicting observations are made before then, there will be no further need to return to the matters which were the subject of visits or replies to the questionnaire."
The Council asked the Nordic States to continue their preparations so that a full report can be submitted. A new series of evaluations will take place as of this month and during the second half of the year; more particularly they will relate to the situation regarding visas and consular co-operation, as well as sea, land and airport borders (the proper functioning of the Schengen Information System will be verified during the first quarter of 2001). To conclude, the JHA Council confirmed "the political objective of reaching, by the end of 2000, a decision of full implementation of the Schengen acquis in the Nordic States from 25 March 2001."