Schengen Agreement - European Parliament resolution
01 January 1991
Schengen Agreement - European Parliament resolution
bacdoc May=1991
Joint resolution replacing B3-0079, 0099 and 0104/91
The EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT - 22 February 1991
RESOLUTION
on the harmonization of policies on entry to the territories of the EC
Member States with a view to the free movement of persons (Article 8a of
the EEC Treaty) and the drawing up of an intergovernmental Convention
among the 12 Member States of the EC
The European Parliament,
- having regard to Articles 5, 8a, 100 and 235 of the Treaty
establishing the EEC,
- having regard to the preamble of the Single European Act, in which
the Member States declared their determination to improve the
economic and social situation by extending common policies and
pursing new objectives, and to ensure a smoother functioning of the
Communities by enabling the institutions to exercise their powers
under conditions most in keeping with Community interests,
- having regard to its resolutions of 12 March 1987 on the right of
asylum, of 23 November 1989 and 15 March 1990 of the Schengen
Agreement and the Additional Protocol to the Agreement, and of 14
June 1990 on the Schengen Agreement, the Convention of the right of
asylum and the status of refugees as defined by the ad hoc Group on
Immigration,
A. having regard to the Commission White Paper on completing the
internal market, which made provision for a series of proposals for
directives on checks on individuals, including a proposal on the
coordination of national visa policies;
B. having regard to the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement
on the gradual abolition of checks at frontiers between the
signatory Member States, which demonstrates how checks on persons
at frontiers can be abolished without necessarily undermining the
internal security of the signatory states,
C. whereas the free movement of persons and goods in the Community is
a precondition for the creation of the single market and is
recognized as being of particular importance by all the nationals
of the Member States who are directly concerned and whereas it is
therefore imperative that the deadline of 1 January 1993 for the
opening of internal frontiers should be respected,
D. whereas the 12 Member States intend to sign a Convention on
external frontiers, drafted by the ad hoc Group on Immigration
acting in an international law context, and thus outside the sphere
of Community law, but with the active collaboration of the
Commission,
E . whereas neither the governments of the Member States nor the
Council nor the commission gave any satisfactory reply to
Parliament's request, set out in its resolutions of 23 November
1989, 15 march 1990 and 14 June 1990, that any decision taken on
immigration and internal security should be dealt with in the same
way as any other community policy,
F. whereas, in spite of the Council's assurances given on 11 October
1989 and the procedure it proposed, Parliament has been provided
with insufficient information,
G. whereas any Convention on external frontiers must not affect the
right of asylum and international conventions in this area,
H. whereas, while external border controls are indispensable to
guarantee security, the relevant regulations must nevertheless be
formulated by representatives of the people, in order to safeguard,
as well as security, the fundamental rights of freedom laid down by
the constitutions and by the principles enshrined in the laws of
the individual Member States,
I. whereas the safeguarding of security at the external borders cannot
be based on the concept of the European Community as a `fortress'
against the people of the Mediterr