Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the 2003 Act of Accession, and in particular Article 3(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament^f1,

Whereas:

Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession provides that the provisions of the Schengen acquis other than those mentioned in Annex I to the said Act shall only apply in a new Member State within the meaning of that instrument pursuant to a Council Decision to that effect after verification that the necessary conditions for the application of that acquis have been met.

The Council, having verified that the necessary conditions for the application of the data protection part of the Schengen acquis concerned had been met by the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic (hereinafter the Member States concerned), rendered the provisions of the Schengen acquis related to the Schengen Information System applicable to the Member States concerned from 1 September 2007.

The Council has now verified, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures as set out in the Decision of the Executive Committee of 16 September 1998 setting up a Standing Committee on the evaluation and implementation of Schengen (SCH/Com-ex (98) 26 def.)^f2, that the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis have been met in all other areas of the Schengen acquis — Air Borders, Land Borders, Police Cooperation, the Schengen Information System, Sea Borders and Visas — in the Member States concerned.

On 8 November 2007, the Council concluded that the conditions in each of the areas mentioned had been fulfilled by the Member States concerned.

It is possible to set dates for the application of the Schengen acquis in full by those Member States, i.e. dates from which checks on persons at the internal borders with those Member States should be lifted.

From the earliest such dates, the restrictions on the use of the Schengen Information System, provided for in Council Decision 2007/471/EC of 12 June 2007 on the application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the Schengen Information System in the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic^f3, should be lifted.

In order to avoid the enlargement of the Schengen area causing travel within the area to become more difficult for certain categories of persons, the facilitation provided by Decision No 895/2006/EC^f4 for third-country nationals holding a national short-term visa issued by one of the Member States concerned for transit through the territory of other Member States concerned, should be maintained. Consequently, certain provisions of that Decision should continue to apply for a limited, transitional period.

In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 3(2) of the 2003 Act of Accession and as a result of the partial application of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland provided for in Council Decision 2004/926/EC of 22 December 2004 on the putting into effect of parts of the Schengen acquis by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland^f5, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 1 thereof, only part of the provisions of the Schengen acquis applicable to the Member States concerned in their relations with Member States applying the Schengen acquis in full should apply in the relations of the Member States concerned with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Agreement concluded by the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the association of those two States with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis, which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B, C, D, F and H of Council Decision 1999/437/EC^f6, on certain arrangements for the application of that Agreement,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: