EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

•Reasons for and objectives of the proposal

In 2015, a number of EU Member States reintroduced temporary border controls, following record flows of migrants arriving in the European Union and important secondary movements. This situation constituted a serious threat to public policy or internal security in several Schengen States.

Threats were due to serious deficiencies in ensuring efficient border control at parts of the Union's external border, which put the overall functioning of the Schengen area at risk. In accordance with Article 29 of the Schengen Borders Code, a coordinated approach at EU level was adopted through a Recommendation by the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, to the five Schengen States most affected (Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway) to maintain proportionate temporary border control at limited sections of their internal borders.

The triggering of Article 29 of the Schengen Borders Code and the adoption of a coordinated approach at EU level to temporary border control were among the initiatives envisaged by the Back to Schengen Roadmap, which aimed at creating conditions for lifting all internal border controls and returning to a normally functioning Schengen area as soon as possible.

The Council initially recommended the maintenance of proportionate temporary internal border control for a period of six months. The Council prolonged, in accordance with Article 29, twice its Recommendation, for three months each time, for the same five Schengen States. At the same time, the Council noted the improvement of the overall situation due to the various measures taken. Therefore, the reintroduced border control was submitted to stricter conditions and a detailed monthly reporting obligation for the Schengen States concerned was imposed.

Under Articles 25 and 29 of the Schengen Borders Code, the period can be again prolonged in accordance with the conditions and procedure set out in Article 29 if the exceptional circumstances persist.

The Recommendations adopted by the Council are without prejudice to the additional tools available to all Member States, including the five Schengen States concerned, under the general rules for temporary reintroduction of internal border control in the event of another serious threat to public policy or internal security, not linked to the deficiencies in the management of the external border. For example, during this period, France, which was not concerned by the Recommendations, reintroduced and maintained border control at all its internal borders for reasons related to persistent terrorist threats. Sweden notified the reintroduction of temporary border controls at all internal borders for the period from 7 until 15 April 2017 following the terror attack in Stockholm.

The Commission is fully aware that migratory flows at any EU border section may pose a serious threat to public policy or internal security in one or several Member States. For this reason, actions are taken at different border sections at sea and on land to take coordinated action, including through additional efforts on the Central Mediterranean route, through the Partnership Framework, and by taking additional action on the relevant sections of the external borders. The Commission also recognises that new security challenges have arisen in the past years, as demonstrated by the very recent terrorist attacks in Berlin, Stockholm or Paris. In this respect, whilst the current legal framework has been sufficient to address challenges faced until now, the Commission is reflecting on whether it is sufficiently adapted to address the evolving security challenges.

The Commission is committed to continue working in order to ensure that the tools already in place are fully used as well as on the necessary new initiatives in order to further stabilise the situation, mindful of the fact that the disadvantages of prolonged internal border controls, namely the economic costs and the obstacles to the free movement of citizens, have to be balanced against the results obtained by the internal border controls carried out so far.

Current situation

Based on the monthly reports submitted by the five Schengen States concerned, as well as on all the information at its disposal, the Commission can conclude that the controls have remained within the conditions set by the Recommendation. Like in the previous periods, the controls have been carried out only when necessary, they have remained proportionate, targeted, limited in their intensity and impeding as little as possible the crossing of the respective internal borders by the general public. The Commission notes that the five Schengen States indicated in their reports the need to continue internal border controls. However, the Commission also notes the concerns expressed by Slovenia about the necessity of border controls at the Austrian-Slovenian border as Slovenia considers that the circumstances have changed markedly since the introduction of temporary internal border control.

The reports provided by the Schengen States under the Recommendation of 7 February 2017 confirm the trend that emerged with the reports provided under the Recommendations of 12 May 2016 and 11 November 2016 (in terms of numbers of asylum applications received or refusals of entry following the controls), and thus the continued progressive stabilisation of the situation.

The number of irregular arrivals in the European Union via the Greek external border continues to be low also during the period of the Recommendation of 7 February 2017, despite a slight increase in the past couple of weeks possibly due to milder and more favourable weather conditions. The ongoing operationalisation and steady rolling out of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency combined with the continued implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016 continue to represent key steps in managing the situation.

Yet, further efforts are needed to ensure that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency's capabilities are fully in place to protect the external borders of the Union by completing the tools at the Agency's disposals for the running of operations, in particular the resources of the mandatory rapid reaction pools. The ongoing exercise on vulnerability assessments must also be completed, with first recommendations to the relevant Member States addressing as a matter of priority the most urgent vulnerabilities expected for end of May and results of a first simulation exercise for the end of October 2017. Following the approval by the Council of a negotiating mandate for a status agreement to be concluded with two EU neighbouring countries, negotiations with Serbia have started in April 2017. The EU is waiting for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to start the negotiations as soon as possible.