| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2016) 275 final (4.5.16) |
| Publication Date | 04/05/2016 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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The EU is facing an unprecedented migratory and refugee crisis following a sharp increase of mixed migratory flows since the summer of 2015. This has led to severe difficulties in ensuring efficient external border control in accordance with the Schengen acquis and in the reception and processing of migrants arriving. Wider structural deficiencies in the way the Union's external borders are protected have also become evident in this crisis. The Hellenic Republic is, mainly due to its geographical situation, particularly affected by these developments and has faced a dramatic increase in the number of migrants arriving on the Aegean islands. The massive inflow is of a nature that would put the external border control of any Member State under severe pressure. In accordance with Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013 and the annual evaluation programme for 2015, an unannounced on-site visit was carried out from 10 to 13 November 2015 to evaluate the implementation of the Schengen acquis in the field of the management of the external border by the Hellenic Republic at its land border and sea border with Turkey. The record number of migrants arriving in the European Union since 2015 and the deficiencies at parts of the Greek external border identified during the November 2015 evaluation have resulted in important secondary movements, prompting several Member States to temporarily reintroduce internal border control at all or parts of their internal borders on grounds of a serious threat to public policy or internal security resulting from the uncontrolled influx of persons not properly documented and/or registered upon their arrival in the first EU Member State. In its Communication 'Back to Schengen – a Roadmap', the Commission referred to the need, if the migratory pressures and the serious deficiencies in external border control were to persist beyond 12 May 2016, to present a proposal to the Council under Article 29 of Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across the border (the Schengen Borders Code currently in force) recommending a coherent Union approach to internal border controls until the structural deficiencies in external border control are mitigated or remedied. The Communication sets out the steps that need to be taken in order to return to a normally functioning Schengen area at the latest by the end of 2016. Concerning the scope of temporary internal border control recommended under Article 29, based on the information currently available, the Member States currently carrying out internal border control should be permitted to continue doing so as those controls have proved able to efficiently address the serious threat to public policy and internal security that was caused by secondary movements of irregular migrants coming from the Hellenic Republic, namely Germany, Denmark, Austria and Sweden and the associated country Norway. Internal border control should be carried out only to the necessary extent, be limited in its intensity to the absolute minimum necessary and impede as little as possible the crossing of the respective internal borders for the general public. For this purpose, only targeted controls should be carried out. Furthermore, the necessity of these controls, together with the border sections affected, should be re-evaluated regularly in cooperation with the Member States concerned in view of the changing situation. The Commission will monitor the application of this recommendation and the situation on the ground and any time, where necessary, propose adaptations to this recommendation to reflect changes in the migratory flow. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:275:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
