Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania, and in particular Article 4(2) thereof,

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

Whereas:

According to the first subparagraph of Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession, the provisions of the Schengen acquis other than those listed in Annex II to that Act, to which Bulgaria and Romania accede upon accession, are to apply in Bulgaria and Romania pursuant to a Council decision to that effect after verification that the necessary conditions for the application of all parts of the Schengen acquis have been met.

On 9 June 2011, the Council concluded, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures, that the conditions in all the areas of the Schengen acquis relating to Air Borders, Land Borders, Police Cooperation, Data Protection, the Schengen Information System, Sea Borders and Visas had been fulfilled by Bulgaria and Romania.

A simplified regime for controls of persons at the external borders was introduced in accordance with Decision No 565/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2. That regime is based on the unilateral recognition by Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania of certain documents, notably Schengen visas, as equivalent to their national visas for transit through or intended stays on their territories, not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period.

It is appropriate, as from the entry into force of this Decision, to allow Bulgaria and Romania access to consult, in a read-only mode, the Visa Information System (VIS) data without the right to enter, amend or delete data in the VIS. This is to facilitate their national visa application procedure to prevent fraud and any abuse of Schengen visas by verifying their validity and authenticity against the data stored in the VIS, to facilitate — with regard to third country nationals holding a Schengen visa — checks at border crossing points at external borders and within the territory of the Member States, to facilitate the determination of the Member State responsible for applications for international protection, to facilitate the examination of such applications, and to increase the level of internal security in the territory of the Member States by facilitating the fight against serious crime and terrorism. The access for the consultation and use of the VIS data should also assist in the identification of any person who may not, or may no longer, fulfil the conditions for entry to, or stay in, the territory of the Member States concerned.

It is therefore desirable to adopt a decision putting into effect the corresponding provisions of the VIS as referred to in the Annex, as well as all the subsequent developments of those provisions. The putting into effect of such provisions should be limited to the extent that they are related to the access for the consultation of VIS data in read-only format. Therefore, Bulgaria and Romania should be authorised to access the VIS data for consultation and in accordance with the procedures and conditions specified in the provisions put into effect. The Annex should contain the relevant acquis related to the access for consultation of VIS data. However, Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f3, Council Decision 2004/512/EC^f4 and Commission Decision 2006/648/EC^f5 already apply to Bulgaria and Romania. Therefore, they are not included in the Annex.

It is also desirable to set a date from which those provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the VIS should start to apply as determined in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 767/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f6 with regard to Bulgaria and Romania. This should happen as soon as Bulgaria and Romania have notified the Commission that all related comprehensive testing to be carried out by eu-LISA has been successfully completed.

The lifting of checks at internal borders of the Member States concerned and their full participation in the Schengen acquis relating to the common policy on visas should be subject to a separate decision of the Council adopted by unanimity in accordance with Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession. Until the adoption of that decision, which will put into effect the provisions applicable in the field of short-stay visas other than those listed in the Annex to this Decision with regard to Bulgaria and Romania, and which include notably the Visa Code^f7 and the provisions adopted for the purpose of its implementation, Bulgaria and Romania are not permitted to issue Schengen visas and are to continue to issue short-stay visas under their national law. Until the date set out in that Decision, restrictions on the use of the VIS resulting from this Decision, notably those concerning the right to introduce relevant data to it, should be maintained.

However, it is desirable to grant to the competent visa authorities of Bulgaria and Romania during that transitional period, access for consultation to VIS data in read-only format for the purposes of the examination of applications for short-stay visas issued by them under their national law and the decisions relating to those applications. This is to include the decision of whether to annul, revoke, extend or shorten the validity of the visa issued in accordance with their relevant national provisions.

Given that the verification in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures concerning Bulgaria and Romania has already been completed pursuant to Article 4(2) of the 2005 Act of Accession, the verification under Article 1(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013^f8 will not be carried out in respect of those Member States. Following the adoption of this Decision, the provisions listed in the Annex should only come into effect after Bulgaria and/or Romania have successfully undergone comprehensive tests carried out by eu-LISA and after these have been duly notified to the Commission. Moreover, it is desirable that Bulgaria and Romania invite experts from Member States and the Commission to perform reviews of the application of those provisions.

As regards Iceland and Norway, this Decision constitutes a development of the 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 latters' association with the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis ^f9 which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B and G of Council Decision 1999/437/EC^f10.

As regards Switzerland, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of 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 ^f11 which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B and G of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2008/146/EC^f12.

As regards Liechtenstein, this Decision constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis within the meaning of the Protocol 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 ^f13 which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B and G of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2011/350/EU^f14,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: