RESOLUTION B3-0162, 0169, 0235, 0236, 0264 and 0269/93

Resolution on freedom of movement for persons

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Commission communication to the Council and Parliament on the abolition of border controls,

-having regard to its resolutions of 9 July 1992 on the completion of the internal market and of 19 November 1992 on the removal of intra-Community border controls and the free movement of persons in the EC,

-having regard to its resolution of 18 December 1992 on the Seventh Report of the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of the White Paper on the completion of the Internal Market,

-having regard to the conclusions of the presidency of the European Council in Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992,

A.whereas Article 3(c) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community lays down the principle of the 'abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles to freedom of movement', particularly for persons,

B.whereas Article 7 of the EEC Treaty prohibits any discrimination on grounds of nationality, without prejudice to any special provisions contained in that Treaty,

C.whereas Article 8a of the Treaty states that, with effect from 31 December 1992, an area without internal frontiers shall be created in which the free movement of persons is ensured,

D.whereas more than 8 million third-country citizens, resident in the Community, require visas in almost every Member State and are obliged to complete lengthy formalities, revealing personal information such as their income over the last six months, etc., simply in order to travel from one Member State to another,

E.whereas, according to the Commission, a large number of border checks are still being carried out - on citizens of Member States as well as on third- country nationals - at airports and internal Community borders, and will probably continue throughout 1993; whereas, indeed, many checks are to be maintained at certain internal road, rail or sea borders,

F.whereas, while the Council and the Commission are aware of the need to take appropriate measures to ensure the free movement of persons (cf. Commission White Paper, Palma document and various European Parliament resolutions) in accordance with Article 8a of the EEC Treaty, the measures they have actually taken fall far short of what is needed to achieve this objective,

G.whereas the principle of freedom of movement for persons within the Community should apply to all Community citizens and to nationals of third countries residing legally in a Community Member State,

1.Asks the Commission to use its powers under Article 169 to adopt without delay effective political and legal measures to permit full freedom of movement within the Community in accordance with Articles 8a, 100 and 235 of the EEC Treaty;

2.Requests the Commission to inform Parliament, and its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs, by 2 April 1993, of the measures it has taken and intends to take to achieve complete freedom of movement within the Community, and to prove the effectiveness of these measures;

3.Calls, moreover, on the Commission to survey the situation in the twelve Member States and to report back to the European Parliament by 2 April 1993;

4.Calls on the Council to take forthwith effective steps to ensure the totally free movement of persons across internal frontiers of the Community and to justify these steps to the European Parliament and its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs by 2 April 1993;

5.Requests the Member States to comply with their obligations under Article 5 of the EEC Treaty, by taking all the general or specific measures necessary to ensure that their obligations arising from the Treaty or from acts of Community institutions are being fulfilled;

6.Declares that, should the replies which the Commission and the Council have to give in April 1993 prove unsatisfactory, it will not hesitate to use all the measures at its disposal, and in particular its right under Article 175 of the EEC Treaty, to obtain full freedom of movement for persons within the Community and to ensure that the obligations clearly deriving from Article 8a are fully complied with and applied without delay;

7.Instructs its Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs, in collaboration with the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights, to commence the preparatory work with a view to instituting proceedings pursuant to Article 175, first and second subparagraphs, of the EEC Treaty;

8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.