European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation laying down the requirement for the competent authorities of the Member States to stamp systematically the travel documents of third-country nationals when they cross the external borders of the Member States and amending the convention implementing the Schengen agreement and the common manual to this end (COM(2003) 664 — C5-0580/2003 — 2003/0258(CNS))
Date: 2004-04-21
Institutions: Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: admission of aliens, external border of the EU, foreign national, residence permit, ticket

C 104 E/628

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(b)

if appropriate, a proposal for the further development of LIFE or a financial instrument exclus-
ively in the environmental field that, inter alia, shall take account of the recommendations of the
review of LIFE, to apply from 2007 onwards.

2.
Following the Commission’s adoption of such a proposal, the European Parliament and the
Council, acting in accordance with the Treaty, shall decide no later than 1 May 2006 on the imple-
mentation of that financial instrument, as from 1 January 2007.

The amount needed within the financial framework to provide for monitoring and auditing
3.
measures in the period following 31 December 2006 shall be deemed to be confirmed only if it is
consistent with the new financial perspectives commencing in 2007.’

Article 2

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

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at …, on …

For the European Parliament
The President

For the Council
The President

P5_TA(2004)0335

Stamping of travel documents *

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation laying down
the requirement for the competent authorities of the Member States to stamp systematically the
travel documents of third-country nationals when they cross the external borders of the Member
States and amending the convention implementing the Schengen agreement and the common
manual to this end (COM(2003) 664 (cid:1) C5-0580/2003 (cid:1) 2003/0258(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission proposal (COM(2003) 664) (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 62(2)(a) of the EC Treaty,

(cid:1) having regard to Article 67 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament

(C5-0580/2003),

(cid:1) having regard to the Protocol integrating the Schengen ‘acquis’ into the framework of the European

Union,

(cid:1) having been informed by the Council that the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland do not wish to participate in adopting and applying the measure con-
cerned in the Commission proposal,

(1) Not yet published in the OJ.

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EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 104 E/629

Wednesday 21 April 2004

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home

Affairs (A5-0229/2004),

1.

Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC

2.
Treaty;

3.

Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission proposal sub-

4.
stantially;

5.

5 Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 1
TITLE

Proposal for a Council regulation laying down the requirement
for the competent authorities of the Member States to stamp
systeMatically the travel documents of third-country nationals
when they cross the external borders of the Member States
and amending the convention implementing the Schengen
agreement and the common manual to this end

Proposal for a Council regulation laying down the requirement
for the competent authorities of the Member States to stamp
systematically the travel documents of third-country nationals
when they cross the external borders of the Member States and
amending the convention implementing the Schengen agree-
ment and the Common Manual for External Borders to this
end

(This amendment applies to the whole of the legislative text; the entire
text must be adjusted accordingly.)

Amendment 2
RECITAL 1

(1) The European Council held in Seville on 21 and 22 June
2002 called for closer co-operation in combating illegal immi-
gration and called on the Commission and the Member States
to take operational steps to ensure an equivalent level of con-
trol and surveillance of external borders.

(1) The European Council held in Seville on 21 and 22 June
2002 called for closer co-operation in combating illegal immi-
gration and requested the Council, the Commission and the
Member States, each within its respective sphere of responsi-
bility, to take operational steps to ensure that, among them-
selves, Member States achieve coordinated, integrated man-
agement of the external borders and an equivalent level of
control and surveillance.

Amendment 3
RECITAL 1a (new)

(1a) Given that it is in the shared interests of the Member
States to introduce more effective arrangements for manag-
ing the external borders, the Thessaloniki European Council
of 19 and 20 June 2003 called on the Commission to submit
proposals on the recasting of the Common Manual for Exter-
nal Borders, including the stamping of travel documents of
third-country nationals.

Amendment 4
RECITAL 2

(2) The provisions of
the convention implementing the
Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985, and of the common

(2) The provisions concerning the crossing of external
borders set out in the convention implementing the Schengen

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TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

manual concerning the crossing of external borders lack clar-
ity and precision as regards the obligation to affix stamps to
the travel documents of
third-country nationals when they
cross external borders. Consequently, they lead to divergent
practices in the Member States and make it difficult to check
whether the duration of short stays for such third-country
nationals on the territory of the Member States is adhered to,
namely a maximum of three months in any six-month period.

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Agreement of 14 June 1985, signed in Schengen on 19 June
1990, provide that an equal degree of control shall be exer-
cised at external borders. However, those provisions lack preci-
sion as regards the obligation to affix stamps to the travel
documents of third-country nationals when they cross external
borders. Consequently, they lead to divergent practices in the
Member States and make it difficult to check whether the dur-
ation of short stays for such third-country nationals on the
territory of the Member States is adhered to, namely a maxi-
mum of three months in any six-month period.

Amendment 5
RECITAL 2a (new)

(2a) The Common Manual for External Borders contains
provisions on the stamping of travel documents of third-
country nationals when they cross the external borders of
Member States that have adopted the Schengen ‘acquis’.
Those provisions should be amended and brought together
in a European Community legal instrument that is binding
in its entirety.

Amendment 6
RECITAL 2b (new)

(2b) On 19 December 2002 the Justice and Home Affairs
Council adopted conclusions on external border checks and
combating illegal immigration and called on the Commission
to clarify the existing rules of the Schengen ‘acquis’ in this
area, to put forward relevant amendments and to consider the
possibility of greater harmonisation of the procedures to be
applied during border checks.

Amendment 8
RECITAL 5

(5) The obligation on the Member States to stamp third-
country nationals’ travel documents systematically when they
enter the territory of the Member States and the limitation
regarding the circumstances in which measures relaxing checks
on persons at external borders may be adopted provide the
possibility of presuming, in the absence of a stamp on such
travel documents, that their holder is in an illegal situation as
regards the condition of the duration of a short stay. However,
it must be possible to overturn this presumption by any form
of proof that can demonstrate the legality of the duration of
the stay.

(5) The obligation on the Member States to stamp third-
country nationals’ travel documents systematically when they
enter the territory of the Member States by crossing the exter-
nal borders of the Schengen area and the limitation regarding
the circumstances in which measures relaxing checks on per-
sons at external borders may be adopted provide the possibility
of presuming, in the absence of a stamp on such travel docu-
ments, that their holder is in an illegal situation as regards the
condition of the duration of a short stay. However, it must be
possible to overturn this presumption by any form of docu-
mentary proof that can demonstrate the legality of the dur-
ation of the stay.

(7) The convention implementing the Schengen Agreement
and the common manual must be amended accordingly.

(7) The Schengen Convention and the Common Manual for
External Borders should be amended accordingly.

Amendment 9
RECITAL 7

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TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

Wednesday 21 April 2004

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 10
RECITAL 9

the provisions of

(9) As far as Iceland and Norway are concerned, this Regu-
lation constitutes a development of
the
Schengen ‘acquis’, as provided for in 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’ falling 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 Agreement.

the provisions of

(9) As far as Iceland and Norway are concerned, this Regu-
lation constitutes a development of
the
Schengen ‘acquis’, as provided for in the Agreement concluded
by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of
Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway and signed in Brussels
on 18 May 1999, concerning the association of those two
States with the implementation, application and development
of the Schengen ‘acquis’ falling 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 Agreement.

Amendment 11
RECITAL 10

(10) This Regulation constitutes a development of the provi-
sions of the Schengen ‘acquis’ in which the United Kingdom is
not participating, in accordance with Council Decision 2000/
365/EC of 29 May 2000 on the request by the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to take part in some
of the provisions of the Schengen ‘acquis’. Consequently, the
United Kingdom is not taking part in its adoption and is not
bound by it or subject to its application.

(10) This Regulation constitutes a development of the provi-
sions of the Schengen ‘acquis’ in which the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not participating,
in
accordance with Council Decision 2000/365/EC of 29 May
2000 on the request by the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland to take part in some of the provisions of
the Schengen ‘acquis’. Consequently, the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not taking part in its
adoption and is not bound by it or subject to its application.

Amendment 12
ARTICLE 2, POINT 1
Article 6, paragraph 2, point (e) (Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement)

(e)

if in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances requiring
immediate measures such checks cannot be carried out,
priorities must be set. In that case, entry checks shall as a
rule take priority over exit checks. The Member State con-
cerned must inform the Council and Commission accord-
ingly as quickly as possible.

(e)

if in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances requiring
immediate measures such checks cannot be carried out,
priorities must be set. In that case, entry checks shall as a
rule take priority over exit checks. The Member State con-
cerned must immediately inform the Council and Com-
mission Secretariats of the unforeseen measures taken.

Amendment 13
ARTICLE 2, POINT 3
Article 23a, paragraph 2 (Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement)

This presumption may be overturned by the third-
2.
country national by demonstrating by any means that he
has respected the condition relating to the duration of short
stay. To this end, he may provide evidence such as transport
tickets, proof of his presence abroad or declarations pursuant
to Articles 22 and 45.

This presumption and any legal step that may ensue
2.
from it must be overturned without delay if the third-country
national demonstrates by documentary evidence that he/she
has respected the condition relating to the duration of a short
stay.

Amendment 14
ARTICLE 2, POINT 3
Article 23a, paragraph 3 (Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement)

3.
In the event of the presumption aimed at paragraph 1 not
being overturned, the competent authorities may apply the
provisions of Article 23(3)(4) and (5).

3.
In the event of the presumption aimed at paragraph 1 not
being overturned, the competent authorities shall apply the
provisions of Article 23(3)(4) and (5).

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TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Amendment 15
ARTICLE 3, INTRODUCTION and POINT 1
Point 1.3.5 (Common Manual)

Part II of the common manual is amended as follows:

II of

Part
amended as follows:

the Common Manual for External Borders is

1.

Point 1.3.5 is replaced by the following:

1.

Point 1.3.5 is replaced by the following:

Checks at land borders may be relaxed as a result of excep-
tional and unforeseen circumstances. This will be the case
where unforeseen events lead to such intensity of traffic that
the delay in the time taken to reach checking posts becomes
excessive, and all resources have been exhausted as regards
staff, facilities and organisation.

Checks at land, sea or air borders shall be relaxed as a result of
uniformly defined exceptional and unforeseen circumstances.

Amendment 16
ARTICLE 3, POINT 3
Point 2.1.1, introductory part (Common Manual)

When the territory of a Member State is entered, a stamp shall
be affixed to: […].

When the territory of a Member State is entered, if an external
border is crossed, a stamp shall be affixed to: […].

Amendment 17
ARTICLE 3, POINT 5
Point 3.4.2.3, paragraph 3 (Common Manual)

Even in the event of a relaxation of the checks, the officials
responsible must proceed in accordance with point 1.3.5.4.

Even in the event of a relaxation of the checks due to excep-
tional circumstances, the officials responsible must proceed in
accordance with point 1.3.5.4.

The Member States shall
take all appropriate measures to
inform third-country nationals of the implementation of this
Regulation.

The Member States, the Commission and the Council shall
take all appropriate measures to inform third-country nationals
of the implementation of this Regulation.

Amendment 18
ARTICLE 4

P5_TA(2004)0336

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction *

European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation on the Euro-
pean Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (cid:1) (recast) (COM(2003) 808 (cid:1) C5-0060/
2004 (cid:1) 2003/0311(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2003) 808) (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Article 308 of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament

(C5-0060/2004),

(1) Not yet published in the OJ.