The Republic of Croatia has met all the conditions for the application of the full Schengen acquis

On 9 December 2021, the EU ministers of the interior have unanimously approved the Conclusions on the fulfillment of the necessary conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis by the Republic of Croatia  

Since its accession to the EU, Croatia applies the provisions of the Schengen acquis, with the exception of the provisions on the lifting of controls at internal borders. According to the EU act of accession of Croatia, the lifting of these controls can only occur following a Council decision to that effect, after verification in accordance with the Schengen evaluation procedures that Croatia fulfils the conditions.

The Schengen evaluation of Croatia took place between 2016 and 2020. In October 2019, the Commission considered that the Republic of Croatia had taken the measures needed to ensure the necessary conditions for the full application of the Schengen acquis. It closed the last action plan for the evaluated fields in February 2021.

The purpose of conclusions is for the Council to formally establish that the Republic of Croatia has fulfilled the necessary conditions. The approval of these conclusions is without prejudice to the adoption of the Council decision on the full application of the Schengen acquis.

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