Which objectives did the Commission pursue?

The codification of the Schengen Borders Code brought together several amendments to the Schengen Borders Code, such as the use of the Visa Information System (Regulation (EC) No 81/2009) and the amendments of 2013, into one legal text, thereby making the provisions clearer, readily understandable and offering more certainty as to the law applicable.

The new Regulation superseded the various acts incorporated in it; the proposal fully preserved the content of the acts being codified and hence does no more than bring them together with only such formal amendments as required by the codification exercise itself

Following up on the Schengen Strategy adopted by the Commission on 2 June identifying measures necessary to make Schengen fully functioning and more resilient, the proposal replies to the recent challenges affecting Schengen. These are for instance in case of instrumentalisation of irregular migrants by third countries and divergent application of measures at external and internal borders in response to COVID-19. Moreover, the proposal aims to adjust the rules applicable to internal border controls and the use of alternative measures within the territory to the current needs. In particular, it tackles the issue of possible responses to the phenomenon of unauthorised movements of irregular migrants within the Schengen area.

The proposal replaces the proposal COM(2017)0571 amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 as regards the rules applicable to the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders.

Estimated savings and benefits

Codifying various legal acts into one instrument, without substantive changes, increases the transparency and readability of legislation, leading to simplification.

The adoption of the new 2021 proposal will allow to better protect Schengen area in the situation of crisis (instrumentalisation of irregular migrants, pandemics). By clarifying the rules concerning the reintroduction of internal borders and the use of alternative measures, it will help in ensuring that internal border controls are used only as a last resort measure, for as long as necessary. The new requirements, concerning the assessment of the impact on cross-border regions or to apply mitigating measures in the situation when border controls are inevitable, should limit the negative impacts on EU citizens and other persons legally staying in the EU, and thus, bring benefits to all persons concerned.

The proposal is accompanied by an impact assessment looking in particular into the impacts of the proposed measures related to COVID-19 and rules concerning the internal border controls.

Outcome of Legislative Procedure

Legislative negotiations regarding the 2021 Commission proposal are ongoing. The Council adopted its general approach in June 2022. Once the European Parliament adopts its mandate, the negotiations will be continued in trilogues, between the Council, European Parliament and the Commission.