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ft ^ft COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 20.03.1997 
COM(97)106 final 
95/0199 (CNS) 
95/0201 (CNS) 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
on the right of third-country nationals to travel in the Community 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
on the elimination of controls on persons crossing internal frontiers 
(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189a(2) 
of the EC Treaty) 

Explanatory memorandum 
1. On 24 August 1995 the Commission presented - jointly - three proposals for 
Directives relating to the free movement of persons within the Community. To be 
more precise, the first proposal concerns the right of third-country nationals to travel in 
the Community1 and the second concerns the elimination of controls on persons 
crossing internal frontiers,2 while the third amends Directives 68/360/EEC and 
73/148/EEC on the abolition of restrictions on movement and residence within the 
Community for certain categories of nationals of Member States and their families.3 
On 23 October 1996 Parliament adopted for each proposal a legislative resolution 
endorsing the proposal and setting out a number of amendments. 
The present amended proposals concern two of the three proposals, viz. the one 
relating to the right to travel of third-country nationals and the one relating to the 
elimination of controls. These new proposals incorporate the amendments accepted by 
the Commission during discussions with Parliament. 
The third proposal, which adapts existing secondary legislation on movement in 
Member States for citizens of the Union and their families, is not the subject of an 
amended proposal since the Commission has not taken up any of the amendments 
proposed by Parliament. 
2. The amendments to the two proposals which have been accepted by the Commission 
fall into two categories: 
(i) those which, according to Parliament, usefully supplement the arrangements 
laid down in the proposals: 
in the case of the proposal on the right to travel, one amendment 
inserts a new recital providing for equality of treatment regarding 
declaration of their presence in a Member State as between 
beneficiaries of the right to travel and citizens of the Union. A further 
amendment includes among the categories excluded from the scope of 
the Directive and listed in Article 1 persons exercising lucrative or non-
lucrative activities. There is also an amendment that inserts a new 
Article 5a imposing in an expedient manner a clear obligation on 
beneficiaries of the right to travel (namely, to leave the Member State 
should they no longer satisfy the conditions enabling them to reside 
temporarily in that Member State); 
OJ No C 306, 17. 11.1995, p. 5; COM(95) 346 final - CNS 95/0199. 
OJ No C 289, 31.10.1995, p. 16; COM(95) 347 final - CNS 95/0201. 
OJ No C 307, 18.11.1995, p. 18; COM(95) 348 final - COD 95/0202. 
I 
in the case of the proposal on the elimination of controls on persons, 
two amendments concerning Article 3 are designed to improve the 
definitions of 'intra-Community flight' and 'intra-Community sea 
crossing' in order to align them on those laid down within the 
framework of the draft Convention on the crossing of the external 
frontiers of the Member States and within the Schengen Convention; 
(ii) those which, according to Parliament, will confirm the Community bases for 
the two proposals: 
one amendment inserts into a new first recital a reference to Article 
3(d) of the EC Treaty, which thus more closely integrates the 
proposals into the framework of the internal market; 
another amendment inserts the date of 31 December 1992 alongside 
the reference to Article 7a of the EC Treaty in the first recital of the 
Commission's initial proposals. 
Amended proposal for a 
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 
on the right of third-country nationals to travel in the Community 
Text proposed by the Commission 
COM(95) 346 final - 95/0199(CNS) 
JO n°C 306 of 17.11.95 p. 5-8 Amendments by the Parliament 
(unchanged unless mentioned below) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the 
Regions, 
Whereas Article 3 of the Treaty provides for an 
internai market characterised, inter alia, by the 
abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles 
to the free movement of persons and measures 
concerning the entry and movement of persons in 
the internal market; 
Whereas Article 7a of the Treaty provides for the estab­
lishment of an internal market, which is to comprise an 
area without internal frontiers in which the free 
movement of goods, persons, services and capital is 
ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; Whereas Article 7a of the Treaty provided for the 
establishment bv 31 December 1992 of an internal 
market, to comprise an area without internal 
frontiers in which the free movement of good, 
persons, capital and services is ensured in 
accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; 
Whereas in order to achieve this objective Member 
Sûtes will have to allow third-country nationals who are 
lawfully in the territory of another Member State to 
enter their territories for short stays; whereas if there 
were no such right to travel each Member State would 
have to consider the fact that there were people in other 
Member States who were not entitled to enter its 
territory, which might be an argument for maintaining 
controls at internal frontiers; H-
Whereas the approximation of Member States' laws on 
:his question directly affects the establishment and func­
tioning of the internal market; 
Whereas the issue of a residence permit by a Member 
State to a third-country national, whereby the latter is 
authorized to live in that State, is an act surrounded by 
sufficient safeguards for the other Member States no 
longer to need to subject the person concerned to the 
requirement that he obtain a visa in advance from their 
own authorities and hence for them to grant him the 
right to travel; whereas, in any event, each Member 
State may expel the person concerned to the Member 
State which issued the residence permit, which is obliged 
to readmit him, if he stays unlawfully in its territory, if 
he does not fulfil the conditions governing the right to 
travel, or if he represents a threat to public order or 
public security in that State, or to its international 
relations; 
Whereas, where a third-country national who is not 
resident in the Community is in possession of a visa 
issued by a Member State which permits him to cross the 
external frontiers of all the Member Sûtes by virtue of 
its being valid throughout the Community and mutually 
recognized by the Member States for that purpose, each 
Member State enjoys sufficient safeguards for it to grant 
the person concerned the right to travel; whereas the 
same right must a fortiori be granted to third-country 
nationals who may cross the external frontiers without 
being subject to a visa requirement; whereas, in any 
event, each Member State is entitled to expel a third-
country national if he does not fulfil the conditions 
governing the right to travel or if he represents a threat 
to public order or public security in that State, or to its 
international relations; 
Whereas persons who exercise the right to travel should 
not become a burden on the social assistance system in 
the Member States they visit; whereas the right should 
therefore be subject to the condition that such persons 
have sufficient resources to undertake the trip; Whereas in principle the registration of third-
country nationals exercising their right to travel 
should no! be. subject to more stringent 
requirements than those applying in comparable 
situations to EU citizens: 
Whereas this Directive forms part of a general body of 
Community and national provisions governing the legal 
position of third-country nationals in the Member States; 
whereas the scope of this Directive should accordingly 
be precisely defined, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRF< TIVI 
Article I 
Article 1 
1. Member States shall grant third-country nationals 
who are lawfully in a Member State the right to travel in 
the territories of the other Member States in accordance 
with this Directive. Introductory provision 
1. Member States shall grant third-country 
nationals who are lawfully in a Member State the 
right to travel in the territories of the other Member 
States in accordance with this Directive. 
2. This Directive shall be without prejudice to rights 
— which Community law confers on third-country 
nationals who are members of the families of citizens 
of the Union, 
— which are granted to third-country nationals and to 
members of their families irrespective of nationality 
where, under an agreement between the Community, 
its Member Sûtes and the relevant third country, 
they enjoy rights of entry and residence in a Member 
State identical to those of citizens of the Union. 
3. This Directive shall not affect provisions of 
Community or domestic law on 
— stays other than for a short time, and 
— access to employment and the uking-up of activities 
as a self-employed person 
applicable to third-country nationals. 2. This Directive shall be without prejudice to 
rights 
- which Community law confers on third-country 
nationals who are members of the families of 
citizens of the Union, 
- which are granted to third-country nationals and to 
members of their families irespective of nationality 
where, under an agreement between the 
Community, its Member States and the relevant 
third country, they enjoy rights of entry and 
residence in a Member State identical to those of 
citizens of the Union. 
3. This Directive shall not affect provisions of 
Community or domestic law on 
- stays other than for a short time, and 
- access to employment, the taking-up of activities 
as a self-employed person and other lucrative or 
non-lucrative activities 
applicable to third-country nationals. 
Article 2 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
1. 'right to travel' means the right to cross internal 
Community borders and to remain in the territory of 
a Member Sute for a short suy, or to travel onward, 
without the person concerned being required to 
obuin a visa from the Member Sute or Sûtes in 
whose territory the right is exercised; 
2. 'residence permit' means any document or author­
ization issued by the authorities in a Member Sute 
which permits a person to reside in that Member 
Sute, and which appears on the list referred to in 
Article 3 (4); Definitions 
For the pupose of this Directive : 
1. 'right to travel'means the right to cross internal 
Community borders and to remain in the territory of 
a Member State for a short stay, or to travel onward, 
without the person concerned being required to 
obtain a visa from the Member State or States in 
whose territory the right is excercised. 
2. 'residence permit' means any document or 
authorization issued by the authorities in a Member 
State which permits a person to reside in that 
Member State for a period of more than six months: 
3. 'visa within the meaning of point (3) of Article 2' 
means a visa which is valid throughout the 
Community and which is mutually recognized for the 
purpose of crossing the external frontiers of the 
Member Sûtes; 
4. 'third-country national' means any person who is not a 
citizen of the Union within the meaning of Article 8 
(1) of the Treaty esublishing the European 
Community. 
Article 3 
1. Member Sûtes shall grant the right to travel to 
third-country nationals who hold a valid residence 
permit issued by another Member Sute. 
Any such person may travel in the territories of the other 
Member Sûtes for a continuous period of not more than 
three months provided that he meets the following 
requirements: 
— he must be in possession of a valid residence permit 
and a valid travel document, 
— he must have sufficient means of subsistence, both to 
cover the period of the intended suy or transit and 
to enable him to return to the Member Sute which 
issued the residence permit, or to travel to a third 
country into which he is ceruin to be admitted. 
2. Member Sûtes7 shall, in accordance with the 
conditions laid down in the Annex, readmit any person 
to whom they have issued a residence permit and who is 
unlawfully resident in the territory of another Member 
Sute, even if the validity of that permit has expired. 
3. A third-country national who holds a residence 
• permit issued by a Member Sute and who is exercising 
the right to travel may be expelled if he does not meet 
the requirements laid down in paragraph 1 or if he 
represents a threat to public order or public security in 
the Member Sute in which he is exercising the right to 
travel, or to its international relations. 
4. Member Sûtes shall provide the Commission and 
the other Member Sûtes with a list of the documents 
they issue which are treated as equivalent to residence 
permits for the purposes of this Article, updating it as 
and-when necessary. 
The Commission shall publish the lists and any updates 
in the Official Journal of the European Communities. 
T-
Article 4 
1. Member Sûtes shall grant the right to travel to 
third-country nationals who hold a visa within the 
meaning of point (3) of Article 2. 
Such persons may travel in the territories of the Member 
Sûtes during the period of suy permitted by the visa, 
provided that they are in possession of a travel document 
bearing the valid visa and meet the requirement laid 
down in the second indent of Article 3(1). 
2. Member Sûtes shall confer the right to travel on 
third-country nationals who are exempted from visa 
requirements by all the Member Sûtes. 
Such persons may travel in the territories of the Member 
Sûtes for a toul of no more than three months within a 
period of six months from the date of first entry in the 
territory of one of the Member States, provided that they 
are in possession of valid travel documents and meet the 
requirement laid down in the second indent of Article 
3 (1). 
3. Paragraph 2 shall also apply to third-country 
nationals who are subject to a visa requirement in a 
number of Member Sûtes. 
However, the right to travel shall in their case be 
restricted to the territories of such Member Sûtes as 
have exempted nationals of the relevant third country 
from the obligation to hold a visa, unless they do hold a 
visa within the meaning of point (3) of Article 2. 
In the latter event, the period of suy in the territories of 
the Member Sûtes which require a visa shall be limited 
to the period permitted by the visa. 
4. The provisions of this Article shall not prevent any 
Member Sute from authorizing the suy in its territory 
of a third-country national beyond three months. 
5. A third-country national allowed to enter the 
Community for a short suy who is exercising the right 
to travel may be expelled if he does not satisfy the 
conditions in paragraphs 1 or 2, according to whether or 
not he is subject to a visa requirement, or if he represents 
a threat to public order or public security in the Member 
Sute in which he is exercising the right to travel, or to 
its international relations. 
Article 5 
Member Sûtes may require persons exercising the right 
:o travel to report their presence in their territories. 
S 
Article 5a 
End of stay 
1 Persons in a Member State on the basis of the 
right to travel granted in this Directive should leave 
the Member State's territory without delay if they 
no longer satisfy the applicable requirements, 
2. If the fact that the applicalbe requirements will 
no longer to be satisfied is predictable, they should 
leave the Member State before they cease to satisfy 
those requirements. 
Article 6 
Member Sûtes shall bring into force the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive by 31 December 1996. They shall 
immediately inform the Commission thereof. 
When Member Sûtes adopt these provisions, these shall 
conuin a reference to this Directive or shall be accom­
panied by such reference at the time of their official 
publication. The procedure for such reference shall be 
adopted by Member Sûtes. 
Article 7 
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day 
following its publication in' the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
Article 8 
This Directive is addressed to the Member Sûtes. 
ANNEX 
Conditions for the readmission by the Member States of third-country nationals who are unlawfully resident 
in a Member Sute but who hold a residence permit for another Member State (Article 3 (2) ot the 
Directive) 
Annex (-l)(new) 
-1. Member States undertake to adhere strictly to 
the provisions of the European Convention on the 
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental 
Freedoms and not to expel to another Member State 
persons who should be afforded protection in their 
State on the basis of this Convention. 
unlawfully resident in the territory of another Member bute. 
The provisions do no. affect Member States' obligation* under the Dublin Asylum Convention . 
«admr^pplicants for asylum who are unlawfully resident ,n another Member Sute. 
2. Wre a person covered by point , has en^d « ^J^^^^jS 
|o to another country to which he is certain to be admitted. 
„ . third-counuy nation,, wishes to go to "J*?™ i^Sj^SSlS K 
SS£ f£ÎZ£ =Ss! Vbfi eZ^Xf™ tber document that .Uows 
him to travel, and cash or a bank deposit in order to secure his transportation and his residence in the 
country to which he may be admitted. 
3 If a third-country national unlawfully resident in the territory of a Member State refuses to leave 
volÛnurUy^Member Sûtes are required to readmit him in accordance with the guidelines set out below. 
If the person holds a valid residence permit for another Member Sute, the Member Sute which has 
issued the permit is required to readmit him. 
Moreover Member Sûtes must readmit a third-country national in accordance with Article 3 (2) within 
a period of up to two months after the expiration of the validity of the residence permit. 
The obligation to readmit him is subjea to the condition that a request for readmitting him shall be 
lodged Sin one month by the authorities becoming aware of the person's unlawful presence in the 
Member Sute. 
4 The person is to be readmitted after a request has been made by the competent authorities in the 
requeuing Member Sute showing that the person in question holds a valid residence permit for the 
readmitting Member Sute. 
A Member Sute receiving a request in accordance with point 3 must reply to the request within eight 
L^S ïe MembeTstate doe's not respond within that time, it will be deemed to have agreed to 
rcadmission, unless it has expressly requested a one-week extension of that time limit. 
Thi- Member Sute to which the request was addressed is required to ukc in, within a month at most, 
le oetTn it hïlreed to take back. That time limit may be extended by agreement between the two 
Membe!: Sûtes co^ed, upon submission by the requesting Member Sute of an explicit and justified 
application. 
Member Sûtes are to exchange lists of authorities competent to consider requests for readmission and 
of points at borders where readmission can ukc place. 
S The financial costs entailed by readmission are to be met by the person concerned. Where the person is 
Tnable"^ meet Te expenses, the expenses up to the point of readmission are as a rule to be met by the 
Member State requesting readmission. 
to 
Amended proposal for a 
ÇQVNÇII,PTOÇTIVE 
on the elimination of controls on persons crossing internal frontiers 
Text proposed by the Commission 
COM(95) 347 final - 95/0201(CNS) 
JO n° C 289 of 31.10.95 p. 16-17 Amendments by Parliament 
(unchanged unless mentioned below) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the 
Regions, 
Whereas Article 3 of the Treaty provides for an 
internal market characterized, inter alia, by the 
abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles 
to the free movement of persons and measures 
concerning the entry and movement of persons in 
the internal market: 
Whereas Article 7a of the Treaty provides for the estab­
lishment of the internal market, which is to comprise an 
area without internal frontiers in which the free 
movement of goods, persons, services and capital is 
ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; Whereas Article 7A of the Treaty pieyjrjerl for the 
establishment, by 31 December 1992. of the 
internal market, to comprise an area without 
internal frontiers in which the free movement of 
goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in 
accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; 
i\ 
Whereas the establishment of the internal /market 
consequently calls for the abolition of all controls and 
formalities for persons crossing internal frontiers; 
whereas, in this context, seaports and airports stand 
apart, as they serve both traffic with other Member 
Sûtes and traffic with non-member countries; whereas 
application of the freedom-of-movement principle should 
nevertheless result in the elimination of controls and 
formalities for persons taking an intra-Community flight 
or making an intra-Community sea crossing; 
Whereas the Community and the Member States have 
decided to take the measures they deem essential for 
eliminating the underlying reasons for the application of 
frontier controls and formalities under national law; 
Whereas the relevant accompanying measures have been 
introduced satisfactorily; 
Whereas, in order to fulfil the clear and unconditional 
obligation enshrined in Article 7a, and in the interest of 
legal certainty, it is necessary in these circumstances to 
confirm that frontier controls and formalities within the 
Community are to be abolished; 
Whereas this Directive should relate both to controls or 
formalities applied by public authorities and to those 
applied by other persons under national rules; 
Whereas it is necessary to stipulate the conditions in 
which a Member Sute may temporarily reinstate 
controls at internal frontiers in the event of a serious 
threat to public policy or public security, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
1. All persons, whatever their nationality, shall be able 
to cross Member Sûtes' frontiers within die Community 
at any point, without such crossing being subjea to any 
frontier control or formality. 
2. The elimination of controls and formalities for 
persons crossing internal frontiers shall not affect the 
exercise of the law-enforcement powers conferred on the 
competent authorities by the legislation of each Member 
Sute over the whole of its territory, nor any obligations 
to possess and carry documents which are laid down by 
its legislation. 
il 
Article 2 
1. A Member Sute may, in the event of a serious 
threat to public policy or public security, reinstate 
controls at its frontiers within the Community for a 
period of not more than 30 days. Any Member Sute 
uking such action shall immediately notify the 
Commission and the other Member Sûtes, supplying 
them with all the appropriate information. 
2. Where the serious threat to public policy security 
lasts longer than 30 days, the Member State concerned 
may mainuin the controls at its frontiers within the 
Community for renewable periods of not more than 30 
days. Each renewal shall be decided after the other 
Member Sûtes and the Commission have been 
consulted. 
At the Member Sute's request, the Commission and the 
other Member Sûtes shall treat in confidence the 
information it supplies to justify mainuining these 
controls. 
3. The controls referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 and 
the length of the period during which they are applied 
shall not exceed what is strictly necessary to respond to 
the serious threat. 
Article 3 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
1. 'a Member State's frontier within the Community' 
means: 
— the Member Sûtes' common land frontiers, 
including the rail or road terminals for links by 
bridge or tunnel between Member Sûtes, 
— their airports for intra-Community flights, 
— their seaports for intra-Community sea crossings; 
2. 'intra-Community flight' means the movement of an 
aircraft between two Community airports, without 
any stopovers, and which does not surt from or end 
at a non-Community airport; 2. 'intra-Community flight' means the movement 
of an aircraft between two Community airports, 
without any stopovers outside the Community, and 
which does not start from or end at a non-
Community airport; 
3. Intra-Community sea crossing' means the movement 
between two Community ports, without any inter­
mediate calls, of a vessel plying regularly between two 
or more specified Community ports; 3. 'intra-Community sea-crossing' means the 
movement between two Community ports, without 
any intermediate calls outside the Community, of a 
vessel plying regularly between two or more 
specified Community ports; 
13 
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die public authorities of a Member Sute or by 
other persons, under the national legislation of a 
Member Sute, 
— any formality imposed on a person in connection 
with the crossing of an internal frontier and to be 
fulfilled on the occasion of such crossing. 
Article 4 
No later than two years after implemenution of this 
Directive, and every three years thereafter, the 
Commission shall report on its application to the 
European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and 
Social Comittee and the Committee of the Regions. 
Article 5 
Member Sûtes shall bring into force the laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive not later than 31 December 1996. 
They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof 
and shall also transmit to it a uble showing the corre­
lation between each of the provisions of this Directive 
and the relevant provisions of national law, irrespective 
of whether these predate this Directive or are approved 
for the specific purpose of transposing it. 
When Member Sûtes adopt these provisions, these shall 
conuin a reference to this Directive or shall be accom­
panied by such reference at the time of their official 
publication. The procedure for such reference shall be 
adopted by Member Sûtes. 
Article 6 
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day 
following its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
Article 7 
This Directive is addressed to the Member Sûtes. 
n 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(97) 106 final 
DOCUMENTS 
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Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-097-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-16748-7 
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