Division INTRODUCTION

On 14 June 1985, the Governments of the Kingdom of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed an agreement at Schengen, a small town in Luxembourg, with a view to enabling ‘(…) all nationals of the Member States to cross internal borders freely (…)’ and to enable the ‘free circulation of goods and services’.

The five founding countries signed the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement^f1 on 19 June 1990, and were later joined by the Italian Republic on 27 November 1990, the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic on 25 June 1991, the Hellenic Republic on 6 November 1992, the Republic of Austria on 28 April 1995 and by the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Sweden and the Republic of Finland on 19 December 1996.

The Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Iceland also concluded a Cooperation Agreement with the Member States on 19 December 1996, in order to join this Convention.

Subsequently, as of 26 March 1995, the Schengen acquis was fully applied in Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Portugal^f2. As of 31 of March 1998, in Austria and Italy^f3; as of 26 of March 2000 in Greece^f4 and finally, as of 25 March 2001, the Schengen acquis was applicable in full in Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland^f5.

The United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland only take part in some of the provisions of the Schengen Acquis, in accordance with Council Decision 2000/365/EC^f6 and Council Decision 2002/192/EC^f7 respectively.

In the case of the UK, the provisions of the Schengen acquis in which the United Kingdom takes part are applicable as of the 1 January 2005^f8, with the exception of the provisions on the Schengen Information System.

The Schengen acquis was incorporated into the legal framework of the European Union by means of protocols attached to the Treaty of Amsterdam^f9 in 1999. A Council Decision was adopted on 12 May 1999, determining the legal basis for each of the provisions or decisions which constitute the Schengen acquis, in conformity with the relevant provisions of the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty on European Union.

From 1 May 2004, the Schengen acquis, as integrated into the framework of the European Union by the Protocol annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Community (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Schengen Protocol’), as well as the acts building upon it or otherwise related to it are binding on the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, 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. As of 1 January 2007, this also applies to the Republic of Bulgaria and to Romania.

In December 2007, the Council adopted a Decision on the full application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis 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^f10. Accordingly, controls at internal land and sea borders of these Member States were lifted in December 2007 and at internal air borders in March 2008.

As regards the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, Council Decision 2010/365/EU^f11 allows for real SIS data to be transferred to the Member States concerned. The concrete use of this data allows the Council, through the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures, as set out in SCH/Com-ex (98) 26 def., to verify the correct application of the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the SIS in the Member States concerned. Once these evaluations have been carried out, the Council should decide on the lifting of checks at the internal borders with those Member States.

As regards Switzerland, an Agreement was concluded by the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the latter’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis ^f12. Controls at internal land borders of Switzerland were lifted in December 2008 and at internal air borders in March 2009, in accordance with the relevant decision of the Council^f13.

As regards Liechtenstein, a Protocol was signed between the European Union, the European Community, the Swiss Confederation and the Principality of Liechtenstein on the accession of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the Swiss Confederation’s association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis ^f14.