EN Official Journal of the European Union L 323/34

COUNCIL DECISION

of 6 December 2007

on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis in the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic

(2007/801/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the 2003 Act of Accession, and in particular Article 3(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (1),

Whereas:

(1) Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession provides that the provisions of the Schengen acquis other than those mentioned in Annex I to the said Act shall only apply in a new Member State within the meaning of that instrument pursuant to a Council Decision to that effect after verification that the necessary conditions for the application of that acquis have been met.

(2) The Council, having verified that the necessary conditions for the application of the data protection part of the Schengen acquis concerned had been met by the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic (hereinafter the Member States concerned), rendered the provisions of the Schengen acquis related to the Schengen Information System applicable to the Member States concerned from 1 September 2007.

(3) The Council has now verified, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures as set out in the Decision of the Executive Committee of 16 September 1998 setting up a Standing Committee on the evaluation and implementation of Schengen (SCH/Com-ex (98) 26 def.) (2), that the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis have been met in all other areas of the Schengen acquis — Air Borders, Land Borders, Police Cooperation, the Schengen Information System, Sea Borders and Visas — in the Member States concerned.

(4) On 8 November 2007, the Council concluded that the conditions in each of the areas mentioned had been fulfilled by the Member States concerned.

(5) It is possible to set dates for the application of the Schengen acquis in full by those Member States, i.e. dates from which checks on persons at the internal borders with those Member States should be lifted.

(6) From the earliest such dates, the restrictions on the use of the Schengen Information System, provided for in Council Decision 2007/471/EC of 12 June 2007 on the application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the Schengen Information System in the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic (3), should be lifted.

(7) In order to avoid the enlargement of the Schengen area causing travel within the area to become more difficult for certain categories of persons, the facilitation provided by Decision No 895/2006/EC (4) for third-country nationals holding a national short-term visa issued by one of the Member States concerned for transit through the territory of other Member States concerned, should be maintained. Consequently, certain provisions of that Decision should continue to apply for a limited, transitional period.

(8) In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession and as a result of the partial application of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland provided for in Council Decision 2004/926/EC of 22 December 2004 on the putting into effect of parts of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (5), and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 1 thereof, only part of the provisions of the Schengen acquis applicable to the Member States concerned in their relations with Member States applying the Schengen acquis in full should apply in the relations of the Member States concerned with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

(9) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of those two States with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis, which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B, C, D, F and H of Council Decision 1999/437/EC (6), on certain arrangements for the application of that Agreement,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1. The provisions of the Schengen acquis referred to in Annex I shall apply to the Member States concerned amongst themselves and in their relations with the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the Republic of France, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Republic of Austria, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, as well as with the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway as from 21 December 2007.

To the extent that those provisions regulate the abolition of checks on persons at internal borders, they shall apply as from 30 March 2008 to air borders.

All restrictions on the use of the Schengen Information System by the Member States concerned shall be lifted as from 21 December 2007.

2. The provisions of the Schengen acquis referred to in Annex II shall apply to the Member States concerned in their relations with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as from 21 December 2007.

Article 2

Until 30 June 2008, and during their period of validity, national short-term visas issued before 21 December 2007 shall remain valid for the purpose of transit through the territory of the other Member States concerned in so far as they recognised such short-term visas for the purpose of transit in accordance with Decision No 895/2006/EC. The conditions set out in that Decision shall apply.

Article 3

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 6 December 2007. For the Council The President A. COSTA

(1) Opinion delivered on 15 November 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(2) OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 138.

(3) OJ L 179, 7.7.2007, p. 46.

(4) Decision No 895/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 introducing a simplified regime for the control of persons at the external borders based on the unilateral recognition by the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia of certain documents as equivalent to their national visas for the purposes of transit through their territories (OJ L 167, 20.6.2006, p. 1).

(5) OJ L 395, 31.12.2004, p. 70.

(6) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.