§ Sir John WheelerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the position regarding frontier controls on people travelling between the United Kingdom and other member states of the European Community after January 1993.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe date 1 January 1993 will not, in the event, be of any practical sigificance so far as the movement of people travelling within the European Community is concerned. There remain varying interpretations of article 8A of the treaty of Rome. None of the member states of the Community intends to make fundamental changes on 1 January 1993 to the arrangements in force at its frontiers with other member states for controlling immigration and for police checks.
Immigration control on entry to and departure from the United Kingdom will continue to be operated in accordance with the Immigration Act 1971 and relevant Community legislation. Passengers entering the United Kingdom from other member states, except the Republic of Ireland, will continue to be required to present their passports or other national identity documents to the immigration officer for inspection. In the case of British citizens and other EC nationals, the purpose of the check is simply to establish their nationality, and the arrangements already made for expediting the passage 446W through the immigration control of EC nationals will continue. No change will be made in the exercise of the powers contained in the prevention of terrorism Act.
It will similarly continue to be necessary for people travelling from the United Kingdom to other EC countries, other than the Republic of Ireland, to be in possession of a passport or other national identity document. The member states that are parties to the Schengen convention expect to abolish frontier controls at the land frontiers between their territories, and subsequently at airports in respect of flights between their countries, in the course of 1993. On present plans, however, it will still be necessary thereafter for people travelling from the United Kingdom to one of those countries to be in possession of a passport or other national identity document, together where necessary with a visa.
I shall be considering what further changes might be made in the course of 1993 to the United Kingdom immigration control arrangements vis-a-vis other member states of the European Community, in furtherance of our policy of reducing checks on EC nationals to the minimum level compatible with the retention of effective immigration control of third-country nationals together with adequate safeguards against the entry of terrorists and other serious criminals.