Council Regulation (EC) No 693/2003 of 14 April 2003 establishing a specific Facilitated Transit Document (FTD), a Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD) and amending the Common Consular Instructions and the Common Manual
Date: 2003-04-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU visa policy, Schengen Agreement, external border of the EU, foreign national, passport, rail transport, transit

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 693/2003

of 14 April 2003

establishing a specific Facilitated Transit Document (FTD), a Facilitated Rail Transit Document
(FRTD) and amending the Common Consular Instructions and the Common Manual

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu-
nity, and in particular Article 62(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),

Whereas:

In order to prepare accession of new Member States, the
Community should take into account specific situations,
which may occur as a result of the enlargement and set
out
legislation in order to avoid future
problems in relation with the crossing of the external
border.

the relevant

The Community should address in particular the new
situation of third country nationals who must necessarily
cross the territory of one or several Member States in
order to travel between two parts of their own country
which are not geographically contiguous.

A Facilitated Transit Document (FTD) and a Facilitated
Rail Transit Document (FRTD) should be established for
this specific case of transit by land.

The FTD/FRTD are to constitute documents having the
value of transit visas authorising their holders to enter in
order to pass through the territories of Member States in
accordance with the provisions of the Schengen acquis
concerning the crossing of external borders.

The conditions and the procedures for obtaining these
documents should be facilitated in line with the provi-
sions of the Schengen acquis.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

law, should be
Penalties, as provided for in national
imposed on the holder of the FTD/FRTD in case of
misuse of the scheme.

(12)

Since the objective of the proposed action, namely the
recognition of FTD/FRTD, issued by one Member State,
by the other Member States bound by the provisions of
the Schengen acquis concerning the crossing of external
borders cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member
States and can therefore by reason of the scale of the
action be better achieved at Community level,
the
in accordance with
Community may adopt measures,

(8)

(9)

(10)

the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the
Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportion-
ality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not
go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve this
objective.

A uniform format for FTD and FRTD is established in
Regulation (EC) No 694/2003 (3).

The Common Consular Instructions (4) and the Common
Manual (5) should be amended accordingly.

In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Protocol on
the position of Denmark annexed to the Treaty on
European Union and to the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Denmark is not taking part in
the adoption of this Regulation, and is not bound by it
or subject to its application. Given that this Regulation
builds upon the Schengen acquis under the provisions of
Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the
European Community, Denmark shall,
in accordance
with Article 5 of the said Protocol, decide within a
period of six months after the Council has adopted this
Regulation whether it will implement it in its national
law.

(11) As regards Iceland and Norway, this Regulation consti-
tutes 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 (6),
which fall within the area referred to in Article 1(B) of
Council Decision 1999/437/EC of 17 May 1999 on
certain arrangements for the application of that Agree-
ment (7).

This Regulation constitutes a development of provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which the United Kingdom
does not take part, in accordance with Council Decision
2000/365/EC of 29 May 2000 concerning the request of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland to take part in some of the provisions of the
Schengen acquis (8); the United Kingdom is therefore not
taking part in its adoption and is not bound by it or
subject to its application.

(3) See page 15 of this Official Journal.
(4) OJ C 313, 16.12.2002, p. 1. Instructions amended by Regulation

(EC) No 415/2003 (OJ L 64, 7.3.2003, p. 1).

(1) Not yet published in the Official Journal.
(2) Opinion delivered on 8 April 2003 (not yet published in the Official

Journal).

(5) OJ C 313, 16.12.2002, p. 97.
(6) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 36.
(7) OJ L 176, 10.7.1999, p. 31.
(8) OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 43.

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(13)

(14)

This Regulation constitutes a development of provisions
of the Schengen acquis in which Ireland does not take
part, in accordance with Council Decision 2002/192/EC
of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland's request to take
part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis (1);
Ireland is therefore not taking part in its adoption and is
not bound by it or subject to its application.

This Regulation constitutes an act building on the
Schengen acquis or otherwise related to it within the
meaning of Article 3(2) of the Act of Accession and will
therefore only become applicable after the lifting of the
internal border controls,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

Definition

1.
This Regulation establishes a Facilitated Transit Document
(FTD) and a Facilitated Rail Transit Document (FRTD) for the
purpose of facilitated transit.

Facilitated transit shall mean the specific and direct transit
2.
by land of a third country national who must necessarily cross
the territory of one or several Member States in order to travel
between two parts of his own country which are not geogra-
phically contiguous.

Article 2

Specific authorisation (FTD/FRTD)

1.
The FTD is a specific authorisation allowing for a facili-
tated transit, which may be issued by Member States for
multiple entries by whatever means of land transport.

2.
The FRTD is a specific authorisation allowing for facili-
tated transit, which may be issued by Member States for a
single entry and return by rail.

The FTD/FRTD shall be issued in the form of uniform

3.
formats in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 694/2003.

Article 3

Scope and validity

The FTD and the FRTD have the same value as transit
1.
visas and are territorially valid for the issuing Member State
and other Member States through which the facilitated transit
takes place.

(1) OJ L 64, 7.3.2002, p. 20.

The FTD shall be valid for a maximum period of up to
2.
three years. A transit based on the FTD shall not exceed 24
hours.

The FRTD shall be valid for a maximum period of up to
3.
three months. A transit based on the FRTD shall not exceed six
hours.

CHAPTER II

ISSUING AN FTD/FRTD

Article 4

Conditions

In order to obtain an FTD/FRTD, the applicant shall:

(a) possess a valid document, authorising him to cross external
borders as defined pursuant
the
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14
June 1985, signed at Schengen on 19 June 1990 (2);

to Article 17(3)(a) of

(b) not be a person for whom an alert has been issued for the

purposes of refusing entry;

(c) not be considered to be a threat to public policy, national
security or the international relations of any of the Member
States. However, in relation to the FRTD, prior consultation
in accordance with Article 17(2) of the Convention imple-
menting the Schengen Agreement shall not apply;

(d) for the FTD, have valid reasons for frequent

travelling

between the two parts of the territory of his country.

Article 5

Application procedure

The application for an FTD shall be presented to the
1.
consular authorities of a Member State which has communi-
cated its decision to issue the FTD/FRTD in accordance with
Article 12. If more than one Member State has communicated
its decision to issue the FTD, the application shall be submitted
to the consular authorities of the Member State of the first
entry. This procedure shall provide for the submission when
appropriate of documentation demonstrating the need for
frequent travel, in particular documents concerning family links
or social, economic or other motives.

2.
In the case of an FRTD, a Member State may, as a rule,
accept applications transmitted via other authorities or third
parties.

The application for an FTD shall be presented on the

3.
standard form as set out in Annex I.

(2) OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19. Convention as last amended by Deci-

sion 2003/170/JHA (OJ L 67, 12.3.2003, p. 27).

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The personal data for an FRTD shall be supplied on the
4.
basis of the Personal Data Sheet set out in Annex II. This
Personal Data Sheet may be filled in on board the train before
the affixing of the FRTD, and in any event before the entry into
the territory of the Member State through which the train
passes, on condition that the basic personal data, as set out in
Annex II, are transmitted electronically to the authorities of the
competent Member State at the moment when the request to
purchase the railway ticket is made.

Article 6

Issuing procedure

1.
The FTD/FRTD shall be issued by the consular offices of
the Member State and shall not be issued at the border. The
decision on issuing the FRTD shall be taken by the competent
consular authorities at the latest 24 hours after the electronic
transmission provided for in Article 5(4).

No FTD/FRTD shall be affixed in a travel document that

2.
has expired.

Article 9

Penalties

Penalties, as provided for in national law, should be imposed
on the holder of the FTD/FRTD in case of misuse of the
scheme.

Such penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive,
and shall include the possibility of cancelling or revoking the
FTD/FRTD.

CHAPTER IV

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 10

3.
The period of validity of the travel document in which
the FTD/FRTD is affixed shall be longer than that of the FTD/
FRTD.

Subject to the specific rules set out in this Regulation, the
provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to visas shall also
apply to the FTD/FRTD.

No FTD/FRTD shall be affixed in a travel document if that
4.
travel document is not valid for any of the Member States. In
this case it shall be affixed by the consular offices on the
uniform format for forms for affixing the visa in accordance
with Regulation (EC) No 333/2002 (1). If a travel document is
only valid for one Member State or for a number of Member
States, the FTD/FRTD shall be limited to the Member State or
Member States in question.

Article 7

Administrative costs of an FTD/FRTD

The fee corresponding to the administrative costs of

1.
processing the application for an FTD shall be EUR 5.

2.

The FRTD shall be issued free of charge.

Article 11

The Common Consular Instructions are hereby amended

1.
as follows:

(a) The following point shall be added to part I:

‘2.5. Documents having the same value as a visa, author-
ising the crossing of external borders: FTD/FRTD

For facilitated transit, an FTD or an FRTD can be
issued in accordance with Council Regulations (EC)
No 693/2003 (*) and (EC) No 694/2003 (**)
(see
Annex 17).

(*) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 8.
(**) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 15.’

CHAPTER III

(b) The text of this Regulation and of Regulation (EC) No 694/

2003 shall be added as Annex 17.

COMMON PROVISIONS RELATED TO THE FTD/FRTD

Article 8

Refusal

2.

The Common Manual shall be amended as follows:

(a) The following point shall be added to Part I:

‘3.4. DOCUMENTS HAVING THE SAME VALUE AS A
OF

CROSSING

VISA,
AUTHORISING
EXTERNAL BORDERS: FTD/FRTD

THE

1.
The procedures, and appeal in cases where the consular
post refuses to examine an application or issue an FTD/FRTD
shall be governed by national law of the respective Member
States.

2.
If an FTD/FRTD is refused and national law requires the
grounds for such a refusal to be given, the reason shall be
communicated to the applicant.

For facilitated transit, an FTD or an FRTD can be
issued in accordance with Council Regulations (EC)
No 693/2003 (*) and (EC) No 694/2003 (**)
(See
Annex 15).

(*) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 8.
(**) OJ L 99, 17.4.2003, p. 15.’

(1) OJ L 53, 23.2.2002, p. 4.

(b) The text of this Regulation and of Regulation (EC) No 694/

2003 shall be added as Annex 15.

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Article 12

Implementation

Article 13

Report

1. Member States deciding to issue the FTD and the FRTD
shall communicate such decision to the Council and the
Commission. The decision shall be published by the Commis-
sion in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall enter
into force on the date of its publication.

2.
If Member States decide no longer to issue the FTD and
the FRTD they shall communicate that decision to the Council
and the Commission. The decision shall be published by the
Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall
enter into force on the thirtieth day following its publication.

The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and
the Council on the functioning of the facilitated transit scheme
at the latest three years after the entry into force of the first
decision as set out in Article 12(1).

Article 14

Entry into force

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

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in
accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Done at Luxembourg, 14 April 2003.

For the Council

The President

A. GIANNITSIS

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ANNEX I

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ANNEX II