The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission welcome the adoption of the Regulation amending the Schengen Borders Code in order to provide for common rules on the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders in exceptional circumstances and of the Regulation on the establishment of an evaluation and monitoring mechanism to verify the application of the Schengen acquis. They believe that these new mechanisms address adequately the call of the European Council in its Conclusions of 24 June 2011 for an enhancement of the cooperation and the mutual trust between the Member States in the Schengen area and for an effective and reliable monitoring and evaluation system in order to ensure the enforcement of common rules and the strengthening, adaptation and extension of the criteria based on the EU acquis, while recalling that Europe’s external borders must be effectively and consistently managed, on the basis of common responsibility, solidarity and practical cooperation.

They state that this amendment to the Schengen Borders Code will reinforce the coordination and cooperation at the level of the Union by providing on the one hand for criteria for any reintroduction of border controls by Member States and on the other hand for an EU-based mechanism to respond to truly critical situations where the overall functioning of the area without internal border controls is put at risk.

They underline that this new evaluation system is an EU-based mechanism and that it will cover all aspects of the Schengen acquis and involve experts from the Member States, the Commission and relevant EU agencies.

They understand that any future proposal from the Commission for amending this evaluation system would be submitted to the consultation of the European Parliament in order to take into consideration its opinion, to the fullest extent possible, before the adoption of a final text.