OT 16:56:30 27-11-2014
KL1656OT.001
EUROPEAN COMMISSION - press release

Sixth bi-annual report
on the functioning of
the Schengen area

Brussels, 27.11.2014

Sixth bi-annual report on the functioning of the Schengen area
1 May - 31 October 2014

number of detections of irregular border crossings
the number of detections at the Bulgarian borders remained
stable.

The Commission continued to monitor the situation in Bulgaria
and Italy with regard to the
improvement of their respective asylum systems and will also
keep monitoring, in cooperation
with the concerned Member States, the possible need of using the
early warning, preparedness
and crisis management mechanism on the basis of Article 33 of
the Dublin III Regulation. /Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013
establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the
Member State responsible for examining
an application for international protection lodged in one of the
Member States by a third-country
national or a stateless person. The aim of the mechanism is to
support Member States to cope with the
situations of particular pressure on or deficiencies in their
respective asylum systems, to show
solidarity, and to help the situation of asylum seekers applying
for international protection in those
Member States.

This year Frontex Risk Analysis Network started collecting data
on the secondary movements. It should be noted that a number of
countries
(Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Malta,
Portugal as well as non-
Schengen Member State Ireland) have not yet submitted their data
(situation as of October
2014). Moreover many Member States sent incomplete data making
it impossible to trace
migration routes, which is the essential aim of the exercise. It
is of utmost importance that all
the Member States fully participate in this data collection,
otherwise the analysis can be only
partial.

Alleged violations of other parts of the Schengen acquis
During the reporting period, the Commission closed one
investigation (with regard to a
Bulgarian BCP on the Greek-Bulgarian border that earlier was
reported as allegedly not
complying with the necessary requirements under the Schengen
Borders Code) and requested
information in a new case regarding Estonian land borders (with
regard to requirements
imposed when crossing the border, in relation to Articles 5 and
7 of the Schengen Borders
Code). Furthermore, the Commission continued its inquiry as
regards Greece and Bulgaria on
allegations of push-back practices at the external border

Lifting of control at internal borders with Bulgaria and Romania
The Council has not yet been able to decide on the lifting of
control at the internal borders to
these countries. The Commission maintains its full support for
Bulgaria's and Romania's
accession to the Schengen area.

Visa policy and readmission agreements
the notifications received from five Member States (Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Romania) of visa non-reciprocity
situations with five third
countries (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Japan and the
US) were published in the
Official Journal of the EU on 12 April 2014. When considering
the options available under
the revised reciprocity mechanism, a series of factors including
the steps taken with the third
countries have to be taken into account. The Commission, in
consultation with the abovementioned
Member States proposed to establish regular tripartite meetings
between the third
country, the Member State(s) concerned and the Commission, with
the objective to discuss
the state of play and define further steps, possibly accompanied
by a timeline, which should
lead to achieving full visa reciprocity as soon as possible.


/КЛ/