PURPOSE : to enable the authorities responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles to have access to the SIS (Schengen Information System) database, to help in the fight against vehicle-related crime.

LEGISLATIVE ACT : Regulation 1160/2005/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders, as regards access to the Schengen Information System by the services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles.

CONTENT : this Regulation amends the provisions of the Schengen Convention which in 1990 set up the SIS, an electronic network between the Member States containing data on lost or stolen motor vehicles. The Regulation is intended to supplement a Decision adopted by the Council in December 2004 on preventing vehicle crime, with the aim of establishing better cooperation within the EU.

According to the estimates quoted in the 2004 Decision, 1,2 million motor vehicles are stolen in the

EU each year, of which 30 to 40% are stolen by organised crime, causing damages amounting to at

least EUR 15 billion per year.

The services in the Member States responsible for issuing registration certificates for vehicles, as referred to in Council Directive 1999/37/EC on the registration documents for vehicles, shall have the right to have access to the following data entered into the Schengen Information System, for the sole purpose of checking whether vehicles presented to them for registration have been stolen, misappropriated or lost:

a) data concerning motor vehicles with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc which have been stolen, misappropriated or lost;

b) data concerning trailers and caravans with an unladen weight exceeding 750 kg which have been stolen, misappropriated or lost;

c) data concerning registration certificates for vehicles and vehicle number plates which have been stolen, misappropriated, lost or invalidated.

The national law of each Member State shall govern access to those data by those services.

ENTRY INTO FORCE : 11/08/2005. The Regulation shall apply from 11 January 2006. For those Member States in which the provisions of the Schengen acquis relating to the SIS do not yet apply, this Regulation shall apply within six months after the date on which those provisions are put into effect for them, as specified in the Council Decision adopted to that effect in accordance with the applicable procedures. The content of this Regulation shall become binding for Norway 270 days after the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

During the second reading Parliament adopted 3 amendments and the Commission fully accepts them. These amendments intend to :

- update the text in order to take account of the fact that the Dutch initiative to which the Council Common position referred to and which has in the meantime been adopted;

- take account of Switzerland's forthcoming accession to the Schengen acquis on which this measure constitutes a development;

- request an annual report from the Council to the EP about the implementation of the proposed access to vehicle registration authorities to combat vehicle crime. It is proposed that the Council and not the Commission sends the report to the EP. In fact, the Commission has no responsibility for the management of the current SIS. Second, a general wording is introduced to clarify that the preparation of these statistics will not imply for the Member States to introduce technical changes at national level. In fact, the report will generally include information and statistics relating to the use and results of the implementation of this Article.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Carlos COELHO (EPP-ED, PT) by 512 votes in favour, 20 against and 31 abstentions, and made few amendments to the common position:

- a new recital states that, as regards Switzerland, the Regulation constitutes a development of the Schengen acquis;

- e ach year the Council must submit a report to the European Parliament on the implementation of the Article on combating vehicle crime. This report will include information and statistics relating to the use and results of the implementation of this Article and state how the data protection rules were applied.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Carlos COELHO (EPP-ED, PT) by 512 votes in favour, 20 against and 31 abstentions, and made few amendments to the common position:

- a new recital states that, as regards Switzerland, the Regulation constitutes a development of the Schengen acquis;

- e ach year the Council must submit a report to the European Parliament on the implementation of the Article on combating vehicle crime. This report will include information and statistics relating to the use and results of the implementation of this Article and state how the data protection rules were applied.

The committee adopted the report by Carlos COELHO (EPP-ED, PT) broadly approving the Council's common position under the 2nd reading of the codecision procedure, subject to just three amendments. One of these had been adopted by Parliament at 1st reading and was now being reinstated in slightly modified form. The amendment called for the Council to submit an annual report to Parliament on the implementation of the proposed access to vehicle registration authorities to combat vehicle crime. The report should include information and statistics and should state how the data protection rules were applied.

The Commission supports the common position.

All 10 amendments proposed by the Parliament and acceptable to the Commission have been integrated in the text. One amendment, which is reported as being unacceptable by the Commission but of which the Commission services have indicated that it is acceptable, has also been taken up in the common position.

The other amendments, which were not acceptable to the Commission, have not been included in the common position because it is considered that the current draft Regulation does not provide the correct and sufficient legal basis for these provisions.

The Council is aware of the fact that the current drafting of the Regulation supposes that the relevant provisions of the draft Council Decision concerning the introduction of some new functions for the Schengen Information System, including in the fight against terrorism, have become applicable before the Regulation enters into force. As there is agreement on the draft Council Decision and its adoption is only subject to the lifting of one outstanding parliamentary reservation, the Council wishes to maintain the current text. This issue will be carefully examined again in the second reading, in light of the progress made on the above-mentioned draft Council Decision at that time.

All 10 amendments proposed by the Parliament and acceptable to the Commission have been integrated in the text. One amendment, which is reported as being unacceptable by the Commission but of which the Commission services have indicated that it is acceptable, has also been taken up in the common position.

The other amendments, which were not acceptable to the Commission, have not been included in the common position because it is considered that the current draft Regulation does not provide the correct and sufficient legal basis for these provisions.

The Council is aware of the fact that the current drafting of the Regulation supposes that the relevant provisions of the draft Council Decision concerning the introduction of some new functions for the Schengen Information System, including in the fight against terrorism, have become applicable before the Regulation enters into force. As there is agreement on the draft Council Decision and its adoption is only subject to the lifting of one outstanding parliamentary reservation, the Council wishes to maintain the current text. This issue will be carefully examined again in the second reading, in light of the progress made on the above-mentioned draft Council Decision at that time.