BAKGRUNN (fra europaparlaments- og rådsforordningen)

(1) Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) provides for the identification or verification of identity, security checks, preliminary health checks and preliminary vulnerability checks of third-country nationals at the external borders or within the territory of the Member States who have not been subject to border checks at the external borders of the Member States, as well as of those third-country nationals who have made an application for international protection at border crossing points or in transit zones, without fulfilling the entry conditions set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3). Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 creates uniform rules allowing for a swift identification or verification of identity of third-country nationals and their referral to the applicable procedures. It aims to strengthen the control of third-country nationals crossing the external borders and to provide for the consultation of the relevant EU information systems and databases in order to verify whether the third-country nationals subject to the screening might pose a threat to internal security.

(2) Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 provides that the verification of persons subject to screening for security purposes is to be carried out against the same systems as for applicants for visas or for travel authorisations under the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). In particular, Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 provides that the personal data of persons submitted to the screening are to be checked against the European Criminal Records Information System for third-country nationals (ECRIS-TCN) established by Regulation (EU) 2019/816 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) as regards persons convicted in relation to terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences.

(3) Access to the ECRIS-TCN is necessary for the screening authorities defined in Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 in order to establish whether a person might pose a threat to internal security.

(4) A hit indicated by ECRIS-TCN should not by itself be taken to mean that the third-country national concerned as defined in Regulation (EU) 2019/816 has been convicted in the Member States that are indicated. The existence of previous convictions should be confirmed only on the basis of information received from the criminal records of the Member States concerned.

(5) Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 constitutes a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis regarding borders and amends Regulations (EC) No 767/2008 (5), (EU) 2017/2226 (6), (EU) 2018/1240 (7) and (EU) 2019/817 (8) of the European Parliament and of the Council, which also constitute developments of the provisions of the Schengen acquis regarding borders, to grant access rights for the purposes of the screening to the data contained in the Visa Information System (VIS), in the Entry/Exit System (EES) and in ETIAS. However, the parallel amendment of Regulation (EU) 2019/816 to grant access rights for the purposes of the screening to the data contained in ECRIS-TCN could not be part of Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 for reasons of variable geometry, as Regulation (EU) 2019/816 does not constitute a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis. Regulation (EU) 2019/816 should therefore be amended by a separate legal act.

(6) Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 provides for specific rules concerning the identification or verification of identity of third-country nationals by means of consulting the Common Identity Repository (CIR) established by Regulations (EU) 2019/817 and (EU) 2019/818 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) in order to facilitate and assist in the correct identification or verification of identity of persons registered in the EES, VIS, ETIAS, Eurodac and ECRIS-TCN, including of unknown persons who are unable to identify themselves.

(7) Since access to data stored in the CIR for purposes of identification or verification of identity is necessary for the screening authorities, Regulation (EU) 2024/1356 amends Regulation (EU) 2019/817. For reasons of variable geometry it was not possible to amend Regulation (EU) 2019/818 in Regulation (EU) 2024/1356, as Regulation (EU) 2019/818 does not constitute a development of the provisions of the Schengen acquis. Regulation (EU) 2019/818 should therefore be amended by a separate legal act.

(8) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely to enable the screening authorities to access the data contained in ECRIS-TCN or in the CIR for the purposes of identification or verification of identity and the security checks established by Regulation (EU) 2024/1356, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.

(9) In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the TEU and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Denmark is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.

(10) In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 and Article 4a(1) of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, Ireland is not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application,