COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM (91) 549 fine I 
Brussels, 18 December 1991 
ABOLITION OF FRONTIER CONTROLS 
Communication from the Commission 
to the Council and the Parliament 
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1. The Community is about to enter its last year for the completion of the area without 
frontiers. Admittedly, some important proposals in the fields of intellectual property 
and company law remain on the Council table. Certainly, decisions remain to be 
taken to complete the opening up of financial services (insurance, investment 
services) and public procurement (services). However, these dossiers, as important as 
they are, do not affect the abolition of physical controls at the frontiers. With the 
prospect of a greater than 80% level of implementation of the White Paper at the end 
of the year, the dynamics of the single market have been achieved but the abolition 
of physical controls at the internal borders is not assured. 
2. In relation to goods, with the adoption of the régime for the movement of goods 
subject to VAT, the abolition of the single administrative document on 31 December 
1992 and the adoption of the new system for the collection of statis-tics for intra-
community trade, the basic provisions for the abolition of general frontier controls 
on goods are in place. However, numerous specific controls for certain categories of 
products remain and require still significant work by the Commission, the Council 
and above all the Member States. 
3. As regards the free movement of persons, the central question on the free crossing of 
internal frontiers is a subject on which a consensus has not yet been reached. 
However, the cooperation between the Member States has been considerably 
reinforced in the different intergovernmental groups whose vocation is to prepare the 
measures necessary for the abolition of the control of persons at the internal borders 
without this causing a deficit in security. 
Thus, from the legislative angle, substantial progress has been achieved by : 
- the signature, on 15th June 1990, of the convention on the determination of the 
Member State responsible for the examination of requests for asylum ; 
- the finalisation of the convention on the external frontiers (only the bilateral issue 
of Gibraltar is preventing its signature). 
Nevertheless, in order that these conventions enter into force, they must firstly be 
ratified by the national parliaments: the convention on the examination of requests 
for asylum has been ratified by only Denmark. 
Moreover, the cooperation between Member States on police matters has been 
strengthened by the adoption, by the responsible ministers in the framework of 
TREVI, of a programme of action in the process of being completed. 
4. The abolition of controls at the frontiers cannot be achieved through partial 
measures. In 1985, the White Paper already expressed concern for the complete aboli­
tion of these controls, in considering that the continued existence of just one control 
would provide a justification for maintaining all controls. Public opinion would only 
have a perception of the success of the 1992 objective if, on 1 January 1993, every 
one of the physical border controls had disappeared. 
5. Article 8A sets a clear objective for the completion of an area without internal 
borders. This objective can be achieved only by the abolition of all the border 
controls on all goods and all persons who are on the territory of the Community. 
Article 8A covers in effect, in the same way and in the same terms, goods and 
persons, even if the instruments for achieving the objectives of Article 8A in these 
two areas are different. 
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It follows therefore that, as for all the transitional periods of the Treaty, the 
Community Institutions and the Member States have the obligation to take all the 
provisions necessary to ensure the achievement of the area without borders on 
1st January 1993. 
However, the abolition of controls at the frontier does not mean the abolition of all 
control. It will remain possible for the national administrations to exercise their 
powers of control on their own territory, but as a component part of internal control. 
The crossing of an internal frontier will no longer be the motivation for the control. 
Analysis of the controls 
7. Controls on goods - The history of each Member State has led to an accumulation of 
formalities and controls which must disappear, which have sometimes lost their initial 
value, but which are often engraved in administrative tradition. The Commission has 
therefore undertaken, in cooperation with the national administrations, a systematic 
analysis of these formalities and controls to assist in their reorganisation, and above 
all, to allow the identification of the accompanying measures necessary. 
8. It is however important that the difficulties which may exist on one or other point 
do not delay the entire operation. The abolition of frontier controls must be under­
taken as from now because, from the end of next year, the supporting documentation 
for controls will disappear : 
- Fiscal controls - In the field of indirect taxation, the texts already approved by 
the Council or which will be approved, in the VAT and excise duty areas, ensure 
the abolition of border controls on 31st December 1992. There remain several 
accompanying measures to be adopted in 1992, notably concerning second hand 
goods, gold and the transport of passengers. 
- Technical controls - These controls are very diverse in nature ; from checks on 
crystal glass to controls on measuring instruments. It should be possible for them 
all to disappear without accompanying measures ; nothing justifies these controls 
being carried out at the frontier given the level of technical harmonisation and 
alternative methods of control. A different approach would commit the Commu­
nity to regulations that would be too specific and contrary to the principle of 
subsidiarity. 
However, a legitimate concern has been expressed about the effective exercise of 
controls at the external frontiers on a common basis, in cases where products may 
expose consumers to particular risks. The Commission is analysing this problem 
with the Member States but it considers that this should not delay the immediate 
abolition of the internal controls. 
- Veterinary controls - By application of the Council directives, these controls must 
all disappear by 1 July 1992. The only area justifying additional attention is the 
movement of domestic animals which is currently treated in the context of the all-
embracing directive in the framework of commercial exchanges. The particular 
aspect of animals accompanying persons will have to be dealt with. A proposal on 
this aspect will be made by the Commission in April 1992, after receipt of the 
opinion of the veterinary committee. 
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Plant Health controls - The disappearance of these controls has been organised for 
31 December 1992. In order to achieve this, decisions concerning seeds and 
harmful organisms have to be adopted by the Council on the basis of proposals 
which have already been tabled. 
Controls linked to the CAP - Certain controls are linked to the operation of the 
market (compensatory amounts, common organisation) ; their abolition is envisaged 
in the course of 1992. Other controls are linked to the the Act of Accession and 
require an initiative from the Commission : a political decision of the Council is 
expected by May 1992. 
Health controls - Among the controls carried out at the frontiers, some should be 
able to be abolished immediately taking into account the comparable level of 
national regulations ; this is particularly the case with controls on the transport of 
corpses, absinthe, and pharmaceutical and chemical products. On the other hand 
the controls carried out on drugs and precursors require common measures : as 
regards precursors, a regulation has been adopted for the surveillance of commerce 
between the Community and third countries and a proposal is under discussion on 
the internal régime. As regards narcotics and psychotropic substances, the 
Commission will decide upon the need for a Directive at the beginning of next 
year. 
Economic and Commercial controls - These controls have four objectives : 
a) The protection of sectoral interests linked to tradition (monopolies) or to 
commercial policy (Article 115) : these controls must disappear by 
31 December 1992 ; they will not in effect be able to be applied from the 
moment that the controls at the frontiers have been abolished. In conformity 
with the policy pursued since 1987 concerning the progressive abolition of 
these measures, no restriction should in principle continue to exist after 
1st July 1992, with the exception made for cars, motorcycles and bananas, 
which will be extended until 31 December 1992. 
b) Monetary protection : these controls can disappear immediately at least in 
those Member States who do not benefit from derogations for capital move­
ments or who have renounced derogations which they were granted. 
c) Protection against counterfeiting : an external regulation existing, the 
abolition of controls can be carried out immediately by replacing them with 
common law internal controls. 
d) Protection of the transport market : these controls are for the most part 
contrary to the regulation on the abolition of controls in force since 1 July 
1990. 
Security controls - These controls are for the most part linked to the export 
control of strategic goods. They pose a problem for the completion of the internal 
market because they are imposed, not exclusively on exports from the Member 
States to third countries, but largely on trade between the Member States them­
selves. Such controls on intra-EC trade are not compatible with the completion of 
the internal market and must be eliminated by the end of 1992. 
The Commission recognises that, if controls on intra-EC trade are to be eliminated 
at the end of 1992, all Member States must apply effective controls on exports to 
third countries. An analysis has been made by the Commission, in liaison with the 
Member States, of the policies and procedures applied in each Member State. On 
this basis, the Council will be presented with a Communication before the end of 
the second quarter of 1992. 
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The other controls, not linked to the export of strategic goods, can be abolished 
such as the controls on flick-knives, on weapons authorised by the Council 
Directive 91/477/EEC and on the transport of dangerous goods taking into account 
Regulation 3356/91 on the control of means of transport. The Commission is 
however in the process of examining the timeliness of a proposal on explosives in 
the framework of a working group. 
- Environmental controls - All the controls linked to the protection of species can 
be abolished immediately in view of the existing Community measures. On the 
other hand the abolition of the control on waste and radio-active nuclear materials 
can only be carried out in the context of the harmonisation work in progress ; a 
proposal concerning radio-active nuclear materials will be made, if necessary, in 
March 1992. 
- Public Morality Controls - These controls are based on traditions and ideas which 
often differ from one Member State to another. Their exercise is clearly not put in 
question by the abolition of frontier controls which have moreover lost all their 
efficiency since the threats to public order and morality are separate from the 
crossing of the intra-Community frontier by a person or a good. It is necessary 
therefore that these controls should be undertaken in accordance with the control 
procedures in force throughout the national territory. 
- Controls on trade in cultural goods - Taking into account the interest of the 
Member States in ensuring the protection of their national treasures by avoiding in 
particular exportation or illegal transactions, the Commission will make the 
necessary proposals in January 1992 concerning the rules for export and the rules 
for the repatriation of goods having illegally left the territory of a Member State. 
9. In parallel to the dismantling of these internal controls, the Commission and the 
Member States must ensure a coherent management of the market and for this 
purpose set in place the instruments of communication necessary with telematic 
networks between administrations. These instruments will find their application 
particularly in the management of the Community's external frontier, for the 
implementation of administrative cooperation in the field of indirect taxation and for 
the management of plant health and veterinary controls. 
On the basis of the Commission's Communication of 7 October 1991 (SEC (91) 1752), 
pilot projects are in the course of development and, in the customs field, some 
networks are fully operational. Only the projects linked to the free movement of 
persons are at a preliminary stage due to the acknowledged limited role for the 
Commission in this matter. 
Taking into account the effort in investment and organisation requested of all 
Member States, the Commission has set in place a permanent framework for dia­
logue with the national administrations in order to ensure a coherent development of 
the different projects. 
10. Controls on persons - The work in this area has specific characteristics since it is 
undertaken mainly in an intergovernmental framework. The controls carried out at 
the frontiers comprise (or can comprise) two aspects : the frontier controls in the 
strict sense (verification that the person who presents himself at the frontier fulfils 
the conditions for access to the territory and possesses in particular the necessary 
travel documents) and the general police checks normally carried out over all the 
territory and which are currently carried out at the same time as the frontier 
controls ; these general police controls are not called into question provided that they 
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are carried out inside the country and that they are an integral part of the internal 
systems of control. 
It is important to remember that the abolition of controls on persons is intimately 
linked to the abolition of controls on goods transported by travellers ; this is particu­
larly the case with drugs, taxation and means of transport, as well as for certain plant 
health and veterinary controls. 
11. The "Palma Document", which has established the essential prior measures for the 
free movement of persons, identified the priority actions for permitting the abolition 
of the two types of control on persons mentioned above. These "essential" actions for 
the abolition of controls on persons concern particularly : 
- the harmonisation of controls at the external frontiers and the surveillance of these 
frontiers ; 
- a common visa policy ; 
- the right of third country nationals also residing in a Member State to move 
without a visa on the territory of the other Member States ; 
- the abolition of the controls on third country nationals at the internal frontiers ; 
- the determination of the State responsible for the examination of requests for 
asylum ; 
- the judicial cooperation in penal matters ; 
- the cooperation and exchange of information between the different national 
authorities concerned (police, customs ...). 
12. The work undertaken in the intergovernmental framework creates a problem of 
coherence with that being carried out in the Community framework in so far as 
concerns the organisation of controls in the airports and ports. While the Commu-nity 
work aims at the abolition of all the controls on goods on 31 December 1992, the 
draft convention on the external borders allows the continued existence of an 
ambiguity regarding the deadline for the abolition of controls on persons travelling 
by aeroplane or boat between two Member States. For the Commission, this ambi­
guity could not bring into question the scope of Article 8A which imposes itself on 
the text of a convention that only draws consequences from the abolition of internal 
borders for the management of the external borders. 
Organisation of work 
13. In the coming 12 months, it is essential for the Council and the Parliament to tighten 
up their work priorities in such a way as to ensure the achievement of the objective. 
It is appropriate therefore to take organisational measures such as : 
- a permanent monitoring of the progression of dossiers in such a way as to submit 
to political arbitration any difficulties blocking the work . The Commission will 
organise this monitoring in close liaison with the Member States but it will be 
necessary for the Internal Market Council itself to take stock of the situation at 
each one of its meetings. 
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- a progressive dismantling of the controls in order to allow for the administrations 
to adapt. From now on the Member States could unilaterally undertake initiatives 
to dismantle controls in all areas which are not linked to work in progress at 
Community level and with respect particularly to : 
(i) technical controls and environmental protection controls (except waste). None 
of these controls is considered paramount for the protection of essential inte­
rests, taking into account technical harmonisation and the ratification of the 
Washington Convention ; 
(ii) abolition of economic and commercial controls linked to the application of 
Article 115 (with the exception of the restrictions renewed for the year 1991). 
14. However, important decisions which affect the development of the work remain to 
be taken : even though these decisions concern above all the free movement of 
persons, they have consequences also for the objective itself; as long as there is no 
agreement on this point, the control infrastructures could continue to exist, making 
de facto any control possible. This absence of decision by the twelve inhibits any 
development of airport infrastructures. 
Conclusions 
15. The Commission presents, in the annex, an indicative work timetable in order to 
respond to the concerns explained above. It is proposed that the Council should 
endorse this timetable. The European Council will, in June, have to make an 
assessment of the work in order to guarantee that all the conditions are met to ensure 
the political success of the objective that it set itself in June 1985. 
Already, in December 1989, in its report in accordance with Article 8b, the 
Commission announced that measures of an exceptional nature could prove necessary 
to ensure the full achievement of this objective ; for this reason it drew together the 
priorities of the White Paper with all the dossiers linked to the abolition of frontier 
controls. The Council, within the timetable envisaged, has succeeded in taking crucial 
decisions particularly in the areas of indirect taxation; the same effort must be 
applied ia the next six months. 
ANNEX 
ABOLITION OF PHYSICAL CONTROLS 
AT FRONTIERS 
WORK PROGRAMME 
Free movement of persons 
Ratification of the Dublin Convention to allow its coming into force at 1 January 
1993. 
Conclusion, ratification and implementation of the convention on the external 
frontiers for 1 January 1993. 
Free movement of goods 
Area Proposal Parliament Council 
A. ABOLITION OF FISCAL CONTROLS 
VAT 
- régime for movement 
- administrative cooperation 
- accompanying measures : 
second hand goods, gold, trans­
port of passengers 
Excise 
- general régime for detention 
and circulation of products 
subject to excise COM (90)182 
COM (91)157 
COM (90)183 
COM (91)115 
March 92 
COM (90)431 opinion given 
opinion given 
June 92 
opinion given December 91 
December 91 
September 92 
December 91 
B. ABOLITION OF VETERINARY CONTROLS 
- "all embrassing" directive 
- accompanying animals 
- production and marketing of 
dairy products 
- milk and milk products COM (89)500 
COM (89)658 
COM (88)836 
May 92 
COM (89)667 
COM (89)672 opinion given 
June 92 
opinion given 
opinion given December 91 
July 92 
May 92 
June 92 
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Area Proposal Parliament Council 
C. ABOLITION OF PLANT HEALTH CONTROLS 
- protection against the introduc­
tion of harmful organisms COM (89)646 
COM (91)246 opinion given December 91 
D. ABOLITION OF CONTROLS LINKED TO THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY 
- abolition of compensatory 
amounts 
- adjustment of the common orga­
nisation of the market in 
cereals, milk and sugar 
- adjustment of the controls linked 
to the Act of Accession February 92 
Commission 
decision : 
September 92 
February 92 March 92 
March 92 July 92 
May 92 
E. ABOLITION OF HEALTH CONTROLS 
- control on the production and 
the sale of psychotropic sub­
stances 
- medical devices COM (90)597 
COM (91)287 January 92 
April 92 March 92 
June 92 
F. ABOLITION OF ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL CONTROLS 
- organisation of the market for 
bananas 
- transport of passengers 
- control on transport from third 
countries January 92 
COM (87)31 
COM (88)596 
February 92 June 92 
opinion given 
June 92 September 92 
February 92 
September 92 
G. ABOLITION OF SECURITY CONTROLS 
- controls on the export of 
strategic goods 
- manufacture, transport and sale 
of explosives 
- radio-active nuclear materials April 921 
February 92 
March 921 June 92 
July 92 
June 92 September 92 
October 92 
September 92 
H. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS 
- shipment of waste 
- shipment of Radio-active waste COM (90)415 
COM (89)559 
COM (90)328 January 92 
opinion given June 92 
June 92 
I. ABOLITION OF CONTROL ON CULTURAL GOODS 
- restitution of national treasures 
and controls on exportation January 92 April 92 June 92 
Subject to the results of the work in progress 

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] ISSN 0254-1475 
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COM(91) 549 final 
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