Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

###### COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

COM (91) 549 f i n e I

Brussels, 18 December 1991

###### ABOLITION OF FRONTIER CONTROLS Communication from the Commission to the Council and the Parliament

**- 2 -**

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 intracommunity 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 abolition 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.

                             - J 

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 undertaken 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 Community 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 allembracing 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.

**- 4 -**

**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 movements 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 themselves. 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.

**- 5 -**

**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**

**- 6 -**

**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.**

**- 7 -**

   - 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 interests, 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.

###### **A N N E X** **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, transport of passengers

Excise

- general régime for detention
and circulation of products
subject to excise

December 91

December 91

September 92

December 91

December 91

July 92
May 92

June 92

COM (90)182
COM (91)157
COM (90)183
COM (91)115
March 92

COM (90)431

**B.** **ABOLITION OF VETERINARY** **CONTROLS**

opinion given

opinion given

June 92

opinion given

opinion given

June 92
opinion given

opinion given

- "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

                    - B 

Area Proposal Parliament Council

**C.** **ABOLITION OF PLANT HEALTH CONTROLS**

opinion given December 91

- protection against the introduction of harmful organisms

COM (89)646
COM (91)246

**D.** **ABOLITION OF CONTROLS LINKED TO THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY**

- abolition of compensatory
amounts

- adjustment of the common organisation of the market in
cereals, milk and sugar

- adjustment of the controls linked
to the Act of Accession

**E.** **ABOLITION OF HEALTH CONTROLS**

- control on the production and
the sale of psychotropic substances

- medical devices

February 92

Commission

decision :
September 92
February 92

COM (90)597

COM (91)287

**F. ABOLITION OF ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL CONTROLS**

March 92

March 92

January 92

April 92

June 92

opinion given

June 92

June 92

July 92

June 92

January 92
opinion given

July 92

May 92

March 92

June 92

September 92

February 92

September 92

September 92

October 92

September 92

June 92

June 92

- organisation of the market for
bananas

- transport of passengers

- control on transport from third
countries

**G.** **ABOLITION** **OF SECURITY CONTROLS**

- controls on the export of
strategic goods

- manufacture, transport and sale
of explosives

- radio-active nuclear materials

**H. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS**

- shipment of waste

- shipment of Radio-active waste

January 92

COM (87)31
COM (88)596

February 92

April 92 [1 ]

February 92

March 92 [1 ]

COM (90)415
COM (89)559
COM (90)328

**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**

!                                                                                                                                                                                                - ' ! ;                                                                                                                                                                                                _**]**_ **ISSN 0254-1475**
## **\ I**

#### **COM(91) 549 final**

# **DOCUMENTS**

### **EN 01**

#### **Catalogue number : CB-CO-91-616-EN-C** **ISBN 92-77-79450-X**

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