Brussels, 22/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - During Tuesday's JHA Council, Ministers of the Interior from the EU25 adopted by qualified majority the Community code on crossing EU borders. Only Hungary voted against and Slovenia abstained. Franco Frattini informed journalists that adoption “is to be considered as a fundamental step in the development of an 'integrated border management system' at EU level” which reconciles in a balanced way customs security and the right of movement for persons. In June 2005, the EP gave a positive recommendation (codecision, first reading) on the text. The Community code proposed in 2004 by the European Commission aims to clarify, consolidate and develop current European legislation on border control of persons. This text is a step forward for the legislative section of this policy for controlling persons crossing borders, in the same way that the Frontext Agency represented an advance at an operational level. This code includes two sections: “external borders”, which includes some elements from the “Common Manual on External borders” and the “internal borders” section, which is based on several provisions from the Convention for the application of the Schengen agreement, but introduces significant amendments. For external borders, the proposals take into account the most recent text approved by the Council (focusing on separate lines at land borders, getting rid of passports and proposals currently being adopted for small scale border traffic) (EUROPE 9132). The code will regulate on: entry conditions onto the territory of a Member State; conditions for carrying out surveillance between border crossing points, including criteria and procedures for refusing entry; specific modalities for carrying out checks at the different types of borders (land, sea, air) and on different types of traffic (trains, cruise ships, pleasure boats etc.). Hungarian Secretary of State Gabor Juhas said that this would damage the fundamental interests of Hungary as the new regulation would impose enormous charges on Hungarian minorities living in neighbouring countries. The Slovenian Secretary of State Robert Marolt was concerned at the prospect of enormous traffic jams that these checks would create at cross border entry points. He declared, “we cannot assume responsibility for this alone”. On internal borders the Commission borrows much from the text in Article 2 of the Schengen Convention, which until now has provided the current rules allowing Member States to unilaterally decide on re-establishing border checks when “public order or national security deem fit” for a period of thirty days that can be extended. The European Commission and EP are, however, involved in the creation of the so-called “safeguard clause” and will, if needs be, carry out observations of states that resort to this measure. Member States can also carry out specific border zone checks. Difficulties resulting from Schengen agreements were being able to distinguish between “police checks”, allowed on all the territory and those in border zones and “border checks”, disallowed under the agreement. The code is expected to clarify these points and what conditions police checks should not be considers as border controls.