16.12.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 369/5 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2133/2004 of 13 December 2004 on the requirement for the competent authorities of the Member States to stamp systematically the travel documents of third country nationals when they cross the external borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Convention implementing the Schengen agreement and the common manual to this end THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 62(2)(a) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1), Whereas: (1) The European Council held in Seville on 21 and 22 June 2002 called for closer co-operation in combating illegal immigration and called on the Commission and the Member States to take operational steps to ensure an equivalent level of control and surveillance of external borders. (2)  The provisions of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 (), and of the common manual (}) concerning the crossing of external borders lack clarity and precision as regards the obligation to affix stamps to the travel documents of third-country nationals when they cross external borders. As a result, such provisions lead to divergent practices in the Member States and make it difficult to check whether the conditions relating to the duration of short stays for such third country nationals on the territory of the Member States are fulfilled, namely a maximum of three months in any six-month period. (3) At its meeting of 27 and 28 February 2003, the Council expressed support for the Commission’s intention to clarify the existing rules in this area, notably by specifying, by way of a proposal for a Council Regulation the obligation for the Member States to stamp systematically third country nationals’ travel documents on entry and exit at external border crossings. @)  In its Conclusions of 8 May 2003 the Council called for separate control lanes for different nationalities, differen- tiated by signs. Specific Community rules on local border traffic should improve the management of external borders by the services responsible, making it easier to overcome any practical difficulties arising from the (') Opinion delivered on 21 April 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (®» OJ L 239, 22.9.2000, p. 19. Convention at last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 871/2004 (O] L 162, 30.4.2004, p. 29). () OJ C 313, 16.12.2002, p. 97. Manual as last amended by Decision 2004/574[EC (O] L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 36). requirement to stamp third country nationals’ travel documents systematically. These measures will also help to ensure that any measures relaxing checks on persons at external borders are exceptional. The obligation on the Member States to stamp third- country nationals’ travel documents systematically when they enter the territory of the Member States provides, in conjunction with the limitation regarding the circum- stances in which measures relaxing checks on persons at external borders may be adopted, the possibility of presuming, in the absence of a stamp on such travel documents, that their holder is not, or is no longer, respecting the conditions relating to the duration of a short stay. However, it should be possible for the third country national concerned to overturn this presumption by any form of relevant and credible proof. In such cases, the competent national authorities should certify the date and the place of the relevant border crossing so as to provide the third country national concerned with evidence of the compliance with the conditions relating to the duration of the stay. The stamping of the travel document makes it possible to establish, with certainty, the date and place of the crossing of the border, without establishing in all cases that all the required travel document control measures have been carried out. This Regulation should also define the categories of persons whose documents do not have to be stamped systematically upon crossing the external borders of the Member States. In this context, it should be stressed that Community rules on local border traffic, including rules on the stamping of travel documents of border residents, are in the course of preparation. Pending the adoption of Community rules on local border traffic, the possibility of exempting the travel documents of border residents from the obligation of stamping should be maintained in accordance with existing bilateral agreements on local border traffic.