2004/927/EC: Council Decision of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty
Date: 2004-12-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EU law, European Parliament, admission of aliens, codecision procedure, immigration, right of asylum

31.12.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 396/45

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 22 December 2004

providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the
European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty

(2004/927/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular the second indent of Article
67(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

the

Treaty

of Amsterdam the

field of visas, asylum,

Under
European
Community acquired the power to adopt measures in
the
immigration and other
policies relating to the free movement of persons, as
laid down in Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty estab-
‘the
lishing
Treaty’).

the European Community

(hereinafter

Under Article 67 of the Treaty, as introduced by the
Treaty of Amsterdam, most of those measures were to
be adopted by the Council acting unanimously after
consulting the European Parliament.

the Council,

the European Parliament,

Under the second indent of paragraph 2, of the same
acting unanimously after
Article 67,
consulting
a
take
five years
a
decision,
after
following the
the Treaty of
entry into force of
Amsterdam, with a view to providing for all or parts
of the areas covered by Title IV to be governed by the
procedure referred to in Article 251 thereof.

transitional period of

shall

Pursuant to Article 67(5) of the Treaty which was added
by the Treaty of Nice the Council shall,
in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 251, adopt the
asylum-related measures provided for in Article 63(1)
and (2)(a) provided that the Council has, unanimously
the European Parliament,
and after consultation of

adopted Community legislation defining the common
rules and basic principles governing those issues, as
well as the measures on judicial cooperation in civil
matters provided for in Article 65 with the exception
of aspects relating to family law; those provisions are
not affected by this Decision.

Moreover, pursuant to the Protocol on Article 67 of the
Treaty, annexed to that Treaty by the Treaty of Nice, as
from 1 May 2004 the Council shall act by a qualified
majority, on a proposal from the Commission and after
consulting the European Parliament, when adopting the
measures referred to in Article 66 of the Treaty; that
Protocol is not affected by this Decision.

approving

‘the Hague

In addition to that which follows from the Treaty of
Programme’:
Nice, when
‘Strengthening Freedom, Security and Justice in the
European Union’ at its meeting on 4 and 5 November
2004 the European Council asked the Council to adopt a
decision based on Article 67(2) of the Treaty no later
than 1 April 2005 to the effect
is
required to act in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 251 when adopting,
in conformity
with the case law of the Court of Justice relating to the
choice of legal basis for Community acts, the measures
referred to in Article 62(1),
(2)(a) and (3) and Article
63(2)(b) and 3(b) of the Treaty.

the Council

that

the European Council

However,
took the view that,
pending the entry into force of the Treaty establishing
a Constitution for Europe, the Council should continue
to act unanimously after
consulting the European
Parliament when adopting measures in the field of the
legal migration of third-country nationals to and between
Member States referred to in Article 63(3)(a) and (4) of
the Treaty.

(5)

(6)

(7)

L 396/46

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

31.12.2004

(8)

(9)

(10)

The transition to co-decision procedures for the adoption
of measures referred to in Article 62(1) of the Treaty is
without prejudice to the requirement for the Council to
act unanimously when taking the decisions referred to in
Article 3(2) of the Act of Accession of 2003, Article
15(1) of the Agreement between the European Union,
the European Community and the Swiss Confederation
on the Swiss Confederation's association with the, imple-
mentation, application and development of the Schengen
acquis (1), Article 4 of the Protocol annexed to the Treaty
on the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the
European Community integrating the Schengen acquis
into the framework of
the European Union and any
future accession treaty.

The transition to codecision procedures for the adoption
of measures referred to in Article 62(2)(a) of the Treaty is
without prejudice to the competence of
the Member
States concerning the geographical demarcation of their
borders, in accordance with international law.

regarding

the action of Member
Incentive measures to support
States
third country
nationals residing legally in their territories might be
adopted by the Council acting in accordance with the
appropriate legal basis provided for in the Treaty.

integration of

the

(11) As a consequence of

the transition to co-decision
procedures for the adoption of measures referred to in
the Treaty,
Articles 62(2) and (3) of
the Regulations
implementing powers with
reserving to the Council
regard to certain detailed provisions
and practical
procedures
for examining visa applications and for
carrying out border checks and surveillance should be
amended so as
to act by
qualified majority in those cases.

to require the Council

(12)

(13)

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 does not take part in
the adoption of this Decision and is not bound by it or
subject to its application.

In accordance with Article 3 of
the Protocol on the
position of the United Kingdom and Ireland annexed
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
those Member
establishing the European Community,

States have notified their wish to take part
adoption and application of this Decision,

in the

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

As

from 1 January 2005 the Council

1.
in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of
the Treaty when adopting measures referred to in Article
62(1), (2)(a) and (3) of the Treaty.

shall act

As

from 1 January 2005 the Council

2.
in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of
the Treaty when adopting measures referred to in Article
63(2)(b) and (3)(b) of the Treaty.

shall act

Article 2

the Treaty shall apply to opinions of

Article 251 of
the
European Parliament obtained by the Council before 1
January 2005 concerning proposals for measures with respect
to which the Council shall act, pursuant to this Decision,
in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the
Treaty.

Article 3

In Article 1(1) and (2) of Council Regulation (EC) No
1.
imple-
789/2001 of 24 April 2001 reserving to the Council
menting powers with regard to certain detailed provisions and
the
practical procedures
words ‘acting unanimously’ shall be replaced by ‘acting by
qualified majority’ with effect from 1 January 2005.

for examining visa applications (2)

2
In Article 1(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 790/2001 of
24 April 2001 reserving to the Council implementing powers
with regard to certain detailed provisions
and practical
procedures for carrying out border checks and surveillance (3)
the words ‘acting unanimously’ shall be replaced by ‘acting by
qualified majority’ with effect from 1 January 2005.

Done at Brussels, 22 December 2004.

For the Council
The President

C. VEERMAN

(1) Council doc. 13054/04 accessible on

http://register.consilium.eu.int

(2) OJ L 116 of 26.4.2001, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 116 of 26.4.2001, p. 5.