Staatssecretaris van Justitie en Veiligheid v J. and Others.
Date: 2020-02-05
30


To answer the question referred, it is appropriate, as a preliminary point, the note that, as is apparent from Article 1 of the Schengen Borders Code, the subject matter and principles of that code are to develop the European Union as a common area of free movement without internal borders and to establish rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders of the Member States forming part of the Schengen area (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 June 2012, Association nationale d’assistance aux frontières pour les étrangers, C‑606/10, EU:C:2012:348, paragraph 23).
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In accordance with Article 11(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, the travel documents of third-country nationals are to be systematically stamped on ‘entry’ to and ‘exit’ from the Schengen area. As the Court has already had the opportunity to state, a grant of leave to enter or exit takes the form of such a stamp (judgment of 26 July 2017, Jafari, C‑646/16, EU:C:2017:586, paragraph 52).
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As regards, in the first place, the determination of the time of exit from the Schengen area, it should be noted that, according to the Court’s settled case-law, it follows from the requirements both of the uniform application of EU law and the principle of equality that the wording of a provision of EU law that does not contain any express reference to the law of the Member States in order to determine its meaning and scope must, throughout the European Union, be interpreted independently and uniformly throughout the European Union, irrespective of characterisation in the Member States, taking into account the wording of the provision at issue and also its context and the purpose of the rules of which it forms part (see, to that effect, inter alia, judgments of 9 November 2017, Maio Marques da Rosa, C‑306/16, EU:C:2017:844, paragraph 38, and of 3 October 2019, X(Long-term residents — Stable, regular and sufficient resources), C‑302/18, EU:C:2019:830, paragraph 26).
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As regards, first, the wording of Article 11(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, since neither that provision nor any other provision of that code, in particular Article 2, contains a definition of the concept of ‘exit’ from the Schengen area, its meaning and scope must be determined in accordance with its usual meaning in everyday language (see, to that effect, inter alia, judgments of 26 July 2017, Jafari, C‑646/16, EU:C:2017:586, paragraph 73; of 29 July 2019, Spiegel Online, C‑516/17, EU:C:2019:625, paragraph 65; and of 12 September 2019, Koton Mağazacilik Tekstil Sanayi ve Ticaret v EUIPO, C‑104/18 P, EU:C:2019:724, paragraph 43).
43


In its usual meaning, the concept of ‘exit’ from the Schengen area is not ambiguous and must be understood as referring to the physical act of movement of a person from a place which is part of the Schengen area to a place which is not part of that territory (see, by analogy, judgments of 4 May 2017, El Dakkak and Intercontinental, C‑17/16, EU:C:2017:341, paragraphs 19 to 21, and of 31 May 2018, Zheng, C‑190/17, EU:C:2018:357, paragraph 30).
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Finally, with regard to the objective pursued by Article 11(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, it should be noted that that code is part of the more general context of an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which, in accordance with Article 3(2) TEU and Article 67(2) TFEU, the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect, inter alia, to external border controls (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 June 2012, Association nationale d’assistance aux frontiers pour les étrangers, C‑606/10, EU:C:2012:348, paragraph 25).
56


As is apparent from recital 6 of that code, border control at Member States’ external borders is in the interest not only of the Member State at whose external borders it is carried out but of all Member States which have abolished internal border control (see, to that effect, judgment of 14 June 2012, Association nationale d’assistance aux frontières pour les étrangers, C‑606/10, EU:C:2012:348, paragraph 24).
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It follows that affixing entry and exit stamps is closely linked to the competent national authorities carrying out their task of controlling, inter alia, short-term stays in the Schengen area, in order to, in accordance with Article 13(1) of the Schengen Borders Code, combat, inter alia, unauthorised crossings (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 September 2014, Air Baltic Corporation, C‑575/12, EU:C:2014:2155, paragraphs 50 and 51).