Local border traffic at external borders: inclusion of the Kaliningrad area and certain Polish administrative districts in the eligible border area

The committee held a first exchange of views on a proposal to amend the EU rules on local border traffic (LBT). The proposal aims at facilitating border crossings in the Kaliningrad area through the inclusion of the Kaliningrad area and certain Polish administrative districts in the eligible border area. The presidency underlined that the proposed amendment was a specific solution responding to a unique situation which did not constitute a precedent.

The Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation with a population of almost one million inhabitants became the only enclave within the EU as a consequence of the 2004 EU enlargement.

The original regulation was adopted in 2006 to ensure that the borders between EU Member States and their non-EU neighbours were not barriers to trade, social and cultural interchange or regional cooperation. It enables derogations, for persons living in a border area, from the general rules on border checks set out in the Schengen Borders Code. The Regulation authorises Member States to conclude bilateral agreements with neighbouring non-EU countries, provided these agreements fully comply with the parameters set by the regulation.