COUNCIL DECISION
of 20 May 1999
concerning the definition of the Schengen acquis for the purpose of determining, in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty on European Union, the legal basis for each of the provisions or decisions which constitute the acquis
(1999/435/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Acting on the basis of Article 2(1), second subparagraph, first sentence, of the Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community, integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as "the Schengen Protocol"),
(1) Whereas it is necessary to define the Schengen acquis in order to allow the Council to determine, in conformity with the relevant provision of the Treaties, legal bases for each of the provisions of the Schengen acquis;
(2) Whereas the determination of legal bases in necessary only in respect of those binding provisions or decisions constituting the Schengen acquis which are still operative;
(3) Whereas the Council must therefore establish for which provisions or decisions constituting the Schengen acquis it is not necessary to determine a legal basis in conformity with the relevant provision of the Treaties;
(4) Whereas the conclusion that for certain provisions of the Schengen acquis it is not necessary or appropriate for the Council to determine a legal basis in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Treaties may be justified on the following grounds:
(a) The provision does not have any binding legal force, and a comparable provision can be adopted by the Council only on the basis of an instrument that has not legal basis in one of the Treaties.
(b) The passage of time and/or events have rendered the provision redundant.
(c) The provision relates to institutional rules which are regarded as being superseded by European Union procedures.
(d) The subject matter of the provision is covered by - and therefore superseded by - existing European Community or Union legislation or by a legal act adopted by all Member States.
(e) The provision has been made redundant by the Agreement to be concluded with the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway pursuant to Article 6 of the Schengen Protocol.
(f) The provision concerns an area covered neither by the activity of the Community nor by the aims of the European Union and thus concerns one of those areas in which the Member States have retained freedom to act. This includes provisions which may be significant only for the purposes of calculating financial claims of or between the Member States concerned;
(5) Even if on one of these grounds it is not necessary or not appropriate for the Council to establish legal bases for certain provisions of the Schengen acquis, this does not have the effect of rendering them redundant or depriving them of legal validity. The legal effects of acts still in force which were adopted on the basis of such provisions are not affected;
(6) The rights and duties of Denmark are governed by Article 3 of the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union and in Articles 1 to 5 of the Protocol on the position of Denmark,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
1. In accordance with the Annex to the Protocol integrating the Schengen acquis into the framework of the European Union, the Schengen acquis comprises all the acts listed in Annex A to this Decision.
2. The Schengen acquis, as referred to in paragraph 1, shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, with the exception of those of its provisions listed in Article 2 and those provisions which at the time of the adoption of this Decision are classified as "confidential" by the Schengen Executive Committee.
3. The Council shall retain the right also to publish other parts of the Schengen acquis in the Official Journal at a later date, in particular provisions the publication of which appears necessary in the general interest, or which the Council considers important for the interpretation of the Schengen acquis.
Article 2
It shall not be necessary for the Council, acting on the basis of Article 2(1), second subparagraph, second sentence, of the Schengen Protocol, to determine, in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Treaties, a legal basis for the following provisions and decisions constituting part of the Schengen acquis:
(a) the provisions of the Convention, signed in Schengen on 19 June 1990, between the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, implementing the Schengen Agreement and its related Final Act and declarations ("the Schengen Convention") which are listed in Part 1 of Annex B;
(b) the provisions of the Accession Agreements and Protocols to the Schengen Agreement and to the Schengen Convention with the Italian Republic (signed in Paris on 27 November 1990), the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic (signed in Bonn on 25 June 1991), the Hellenic Republic (signed in Madrid on 6 November 1992), the Republic of Austria (signed in Brussels on 28 April 1995) and the Kingdom of Denmark, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden (signed in Luxembourg on 19 December 1996) which are listed in Part 2 of Annex B;
(c) the decisions and declarations of the Executive Committee established by the Schengen Convention which are listed in Part 3 of Annex B;
(d) the decisions of the Central Group which the Group has been authorised to take by the Executive Committee and which are listed in Part 3 of Annex B.
Article 3
This Decision shall have immediate effect.
It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Done at Brussels, 20 May 1999.