The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) votes on its position on the reform of the Schengen Borders Code (Union Code), which include new rules governing the movement of persons across borders. MEPs want to ensure a coherent EU response in cases of large-scale public cross-border health emergencies, allowing temporary restrictions on entering the Schengen area, but exempting from them EU citizens, long-term residents and asylum-seekers. As an alternative to border controls, the new rules would promote police cooperation in border regions. MEPs also argue that the provisions on the instrumentalisation of migrants should be covered by a separate proposal. Extracts from the vote and statement by Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&D, FR), Rapporteur.

Brussels

statement

vote

Schengen reform package (T)

Schengen (T2)

LÓPEZ AGUILAR, Juan Fernando (S&D, ES)

GUILLAUME, Sylvie (S&D, FR)

update of Schengen Borders Code (T)

Delivery EE2024 (T)

Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders: extracts from the vote, statement by Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&D, FR), Rapporteur

Title: Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders: extracts from the vote statement by Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur (EbS) 

Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur

SOUNDBITE (English), Juan Fernando L&#211;PEZ AGUILAR (S&amp;D, ES), Opening of the voting session and cutaways of the votes on amendments (7 shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Juan Fernando L&Oacute;PEZ AGUILAR (S&amp;D, ES), Opening of the final vote of the text. Final result: 39 in favour, 13 agaisnt, 12 abstentions (2 shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Juan Fernando L&Oacute;PEZ AGUILAR (S&amp;D, ES), Final vote to enter interistitutional negotiations: 49 in favour, 14 against, 0 abstentions (2 shots)

Cutaways of Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur (2 shots)

SOUNDBITE (French), Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur, I think that the border code Schengen, free movement, it's really something extremely important. It is one of the pillars of the European Union.

SOUNDBITE (French), Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur, The general idea was to regulate, to give reasons for the reinstatement of border controls and to give periods beyond which both the Commission and the Council had to give an opinion, but also to find answers to the threat that was established as the reason for reinstatement.

SOUNDBITE (French), Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur, What we have to keep in mind is that the Court of Justice of the Union had delivered a ruling that required a final deadline. So we had a very heavy debate about whether we were complying with this opinion of the Court of Justice, which gave an end date on exceptional situations that are codified and known. There are 18 months plus possible extensions, but which are subject to advice from the Commission and the Council.

SOUNDBITE (French), Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur, There will also be an alternative measure that I want to insist on, which was not in my favour at the beginning but which we succeeded to reach an agreement, which is to replace the supervision of joint checks between the two (Member States') authorities, which will eventually allow people to be redeployed, but within an extremely narrow framework of persons concerned, in very particular situations. Therefore, we will have both reasons and alternative solutions.

SOUNDBITE (French), Sylvie GUILLAUME (S&amp;D, FR), Rapporteur, In the text on the modification of the Schengen Borders Code, I felt that there was no place for instrumentalization. We are talking about controls here and we are not talking about migration. So it's very, very different. And from a more general point of view, with the text instrumentalization as proposed some time ago, we are finally attacking the victims of instrumentalization. But not much is done about the authors of the instrumentalization. So it's a subject in itself and it had no place in the reform of the Schengen Code.