The rules governing border control of persons crossing the external borders of the Member States of the Union are laid down in of the European Parliament and of the Council (4). Despite the border surveillance measures that are applied, Member States could be faced with unauthorised border crossings by third-country nationals avoiding border checks. To further develop the Union’s policy with a view to carrying out checks on persons and efficiently monitoring the crossing of external borders referred to in Article 77(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), additional measures should address situations where third-country nationals are apprehended in connection with an unauthorised crossing of the external borders, where third-country nationals are disembarked following search and rescue operations, and where third-country nationals make an application for international protection at a border crossing point without fulfilling entry conditions. This Regulation complements with regard to those situations. It is essential to ensure that, in those situations, third-country nationals are screened, in order to facilitate a proper identification and to allow for them to be referred efficiently to the appropriate procedures which, depending on the circumstances, might be the procedure for international protection or procedures respecting of the European Parliament and of the Council (5). The screening of such third-country nationals should seamlessly complement the checks carried out at the external border or compensate for the fact that those checks have not taken place when crossing the external border.
4. Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on a Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) (OJ L 77, 23.3.2016, p. 1). ↩︎
5. Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals (OJ L 348, 24.12.2008, p. 98). ↩︎