Regulation 2013/610 - Amendment of Regulation 562/2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code), the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, Council Regulations (EC) No 1683/95 and (EC) No 539/2001 and Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 and (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 182/1

Union policy in the field of external borders aims for integrated management to ensure a uniform and high level of control and surveillance, which is a necessary corollary to the free movement of persons within the Union and a fundamental component of an area of freedom, security and justice. To this end, common rules on standards and procedures for the control of external borders should be established, taking into account the specific and disproportionate pressures faced by some Member States at their external borders. The rules set should be governed by the principle of solidarity between Member States.

The free movement of people within the Schengen area has been one of the biggest achievements of European integration. Freedom of movement is a fundamental right, the conditions for the exercise of which are laid down in the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and in Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (2).

The abolition of internal border controls requires full mutual trust between Member States in their capacity to fully implement the accompanying measures allowing those controls to be lifted.

Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (3) entered into force on 13 October 2006.

After several years of practical application, the need for a number of amendments has emerged, based on the practical experiences of the Member States and of the Commission in applying Regulation (EC) No 562/2006, on the results of Schengen evaluations, on reports and requests submitted by Member States and on developments in primary and secondary Union law, as has the need for clarification and more efficient mapping of critical technical issues.

The Commission report of 21 September 2009 on the operation of the provisions on stamping of the travel documents of third-country nationals in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 as well as the Commission report of 13 October 2010 on the application of Title III (Internal Borders) of Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 contain concrete suggestions for technical amendments to Regulation (EC) No 562/2006.

Recently adopted Union legislative acts, in particular Regulation (EC) No 810/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 establishing a Community Code on Visas (Visa Code) (4) and Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures...