THE MINISTER
Bundesminister Alexander Dobrindt
Bundesministerium für Verkehr
und digitale Infrastruktur
D-11030 Berlin
Date
Our ref.
18. december
2015-7367
Ministry of Transport and Building
Frederiksholms Kanal 27 F
DK-1220 Copenhagen K
Phone
+45 41 71 27 00
Dear colleague,
dear Mr. Dobrindt,
On 11 December 2015, the Danish Parliament adopted a bill under which the
Danish Integration Minister may decide on the imposition of the so-called
transporter’s liability in connection with temporary border control at inner
Schengen borders. The transporter’s liability implies an obligation
for transport
operators, before arriving in Denmark, to carry out checks in order to verify
that passengers hold valid identification and legal travel documents and visa to
Denmark.
The Danish law has been adopted in light of the current situation with unprec-
edented migration pressure as well as a very significant number of asylum
seekers. Furthermore, it is seen as a necessary reaction to the Swedish Gov-
ernment’s bill introducing an obligation for companies transporting passengers
to carry out identification checks of passengers prior to entering into Sweden.
The Swedish Government has announced that the scheme will enter into effect
as of 4 January 2016. Please note that the Danish Government will not auto-
matically decide on the imposition of transporter’s liability, if Sweden should
decide to do so.
It is of importance to the Danish Government that a possible Danish decision
on the imposition of transporter’s liability may also be implemented in prac-
tice, also with regard to DSB train passengers travelling from Germany to
Denmark. This entails that checks of passengers will have to be carried out on
German territory.
It should be emphasized that transport operators are not supposed to carry out
actual border control. Instead, the transporter’s liability entails that the opera-
tors providing public transport across the Danish-German border – most likely
on the basis of the operators’ general transport conditions – have to check if
passengers hold valid identification and legal travel documents and visa.
The Danish Embassy in Berlin has contacted the German Ministry of the Inte-
rior in order to obtain specific knowledge of
German law on this matter. The
embassy has received the German Ministry of the Interior’s assessment, which
I understand has been coordinated with the German Ministry of Transport.