Translation of "Abolition des contrôles aux frontières " (French → English) :

The abolition of controls at internal frontiers presupposes that external frontiers are administered consistently and in a "Community spirit".

the political importance of the issues involved in achieving free movement of persons and combating international crime, to be regarded as a priority; the objective to be pursued : the progressive establishment of the European Union as an area of freedom, security and justice; the link between free movement of persons and a number of directly related flanking measures concerning the crossing of external borders and the impact on the security of individuals of abolishing checks at internal borders; the need to envisage a measure of differentiation for the procedural and institutional handling of these questions, given their politica ...[+++]l sensitivity; the desirability of providing for possibilities for enhanced cooperation in this area.

- 3 - This is a logical consequence of the free movement of works of art and other cultural goods within the Community which is to take effect from 1 January 1993: the removal of checks at internal frontiers is offset by tighter controls at the Community's external frontiers.

The Schengen Convention entails a number of obligations for Member States [12] regarding police co-operation at their common internal borders, at the external borders of the Schengen territory (land, international airports, sea) and within the Schengen area in general to counteract any security deficit caused by the abolition of the checks at the internal borders.

The Schengen Convention provides the legislative framework for the abolition of internal border controls, the introduction of checks at the external borders on the basis of common standards and the ensuing mandatory and enabling rules to spur law-enforcement co-operation.

Whereas abolition of controls on the possession of weapons at intra-Community frontiers necessitates the adoption of effective rules enabling controls to be carried out within Member States on the acquisition and possession of firearms and on their transfer to another Member State; whereas systematic controls must therefore be abolished at intra-Community frontiers;