Brussels, 18/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 18 December, the Court of Justice ruled in favour of the EU Council which had refused to allow Great Britain to take part in application of two regulations that are normally part of the Schengen acquis - one on the establishment of standards for security features and biometrics in passports, and the other on the creation of Frontex. The Court notes that the United Kingdom has not been allowed to take part in adoption of these two regulations “on the grounds that they are developments of provisions of the Schengen acquis in which the state does not take part”. In 2004, the United Kingdom had informed the Council of its intention to take part in the adoption of the two regulations. Faced with the Council's refusal, the UK had then brought two actions before the Court of Justice of the European Communities, considering that the Council's refusal was in breach of the Schengen Protocol. Given such a ruling, “this makes clear that the UK self-exclusion from the EU's Schengen common travel zone, and insistence on maintaining our own border controls has a cost. We are being told that we cannot have our cake and eat it too”, said British MEP Sarah Ludford (ALDE) in a press release. “This problem will only get worse with the proliferation of UK opt-outs from justice cooperation under the new Treaty of Lisbon”, she concluded (B.C.)