(fra Europaparlaments- og rådsbeslutningen)

(1) Article 4(2) of the 2011 Act of Accession provides that the provisions of the Schengen acquis not referred to in Article 4(1) of that Act are to only apply in Croatia pursuant to a Council decision to that effect, after verification, in accordance with the applicable Schengen evaluation procedures, that the necessary conditions for the application of all parts of the relevant acquis have been met in Croatia, including the effective application of all Schengen rules in accordance with the agreed common standards and with fundamental principles.

(2) By its Decision (EU) 2017/733 (2), the Council, after verification that the necessary conditions for the application of the data protection part of the Schengen acquis concerned had been met by Croatia, rendered the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the Schengen Information System (SIS) applicable to Croatia from 27 June 2017.

(3) Evaluations were carried out to verify that the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis had been met in all the remaining areas of the Schengen acquis, namely management of the external border, police cooperation, the SIS, return, visas, judicial cooperation in criminal matters and firearms, in Croatia, in accordance with the Schengen evaluation procedures applicable at the time as set out in Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013 (3).

(4) In its communication of 22 October 2019 on the verification of the full application of the Schengen acquis by Croatia, the Commission concluded that it considered that Croatia had taken the measures needed to ensure that the necessary conditions for the application of all relevant parts of the Schengen acquis were met. Furthermore, it noted that Croatia would need to continue working consistently on the implementation of all the ongoing actions, in particular in the field of management of the external borders, to ensure that those conditions continue to be met. The Commission also confirmed that Croatia continued to fulfil the commitments linked to the Schengen acquis as undertaken in its accession negotiations.

(5) On 9 December 2021, the Council concluded that the necessary conditions for the application of all parts of the Schengen acquis had been fulfilled by Croatia.

(6) It is therefore possible to set the dates for the application of the Schengen acquis in full by Croatia, from which checks on persons at the internal borders with Croatia should be lifted.

(7) The restrictions on the use of the SIS, provided for in Decision (EU) 2017/733, should be lifted from the earliest date set for the application of the Schengen acquis in full by Croatia.

(8) The simplified regime for third-country nationals holding a national short-stay visa issued by Croatia for transit through or intended stays on its territory not exceeding 90 days in any 180-day period, introduced by Decision No 565/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), should be maintained in order to avoid travel becoming more difficult for certain categories of persons. Consequently, certain provisions of that Decision should continue to apply for a limited transitional period.

(9) 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 (5) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B, C, D and F, of Council Decision 1999/437/EC (6).

(10) 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 (7) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B, C, D and F, of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2008/146/EC (8).

(11) 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 (9) which fall within the area referred to in Article 1, points B, C, D and F, of Decision 1999/437/EC read in conjunction with Article 3 of Council Decision 2011/350/EU (10),