Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on Rules Concerning Local Border Traffic at the External Land Borders of the Member States and Amending the Provisions of the Schengen Convention

The purpose of the Regulation is to establish a local border traffic regime at the external land borders of European Union countries and to introduce a local border traffic permit for this purpose.
Local border traffic refers to the regular and frequent crossing of EU external borders by nationals of neighboring non-EU countries who reside in the EU border areas for legitimate reasons.
These border residents can cross the external land border of an EU country provided that: they possess a permit allowing this crossing (and a passport, if required by the bilateral agreement); they are not persons for whom an alert has been issued in the Schengen Information System; they are not considered a threat to public order.
These individuals are authorized to stay in the border area for a maximum duration specified in the bilateral agreement between an EU country and the neighboring non-EU country. The stay must not exceed 3 months.
It applies to Iceland and Norway, as it constitutes a development of the Schengen acquis (i.e., existing EU laws in the Schengen area – an area in Europe without internal borders, where citizens, many non-EU nationals, and tourists can move without border checks), as well as to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Border residents are provided with permits only for the border area and are valid for 1 to 5 years. These permits have the same security features as residence permits. The fees will be equal to those payable for short-term multiple-entry visas. However, EU countries are free to decide to reduce or even waive the fees. Under Regulation (EU) 2017/1954, which amends Regulation (EC) No 1030/2002 on the EU format for residence permits for non-EU nationals, the security features of local border traffic permits are aligned with those of residence permits to make them more secure and prevent fraud. The annex to Regulation (EU) 2017/1954 contains the technical specifications for the format of the front and back of the permit.
EU countries can conclude local border traffic agreements with neighboring non-EU countries. They can also maintain existing agreements provided that they comply with this regulation. Additionally, EU countries must ensure that non-EU countries apply the principle of reciprocity and offer similar treatment to EU nationals wishing to travel to their border area.
These agreements may allow border residents to use: border crossing points that are open only to border residents; special lanes at regular border crossing points; exceptional authorizations for border residents to cross the border outside authorized border crossing points and hours.
EU countries must impose effective, proportionate, and dissuasive penalties in case of abuse of the local border traffic regime. These may include cancellation or revocation of the permit.