Expansion of EU border-free zone faces delays
LUCIA KUBOSOVA
25.07.2006 @ 09:43 CET
Brussels has hinted new EU member states could see a delay of at least six months in joining the Schengen bordeless zone due to technical difficulties, but the newcomers are insisting the original date of October 2007 should be preserved.
The enlargement of the so far 15-member Schengen area will enable citizens from eight countries in central and eastern Europe plus Cyprus and Malta to travel to western Europe without any border controls.
EU newcomers want to move freely across Europe (Photo: European Commission)
While the European Commission is still due to evaluate whether the newcomers are adequately managing their external EU frontiers - an essential condition for joining Schengen - their entry may end up being delayed due to technical problems in Brussels.
Commission vice-president Franco Frattini admitted on Monday (24 July) that the EU is late with the finalisation of the central data base necessary for the border-free zone's enlargement.
Mr Frattini said the so-called SIS II system, a sophisticated computer network designed to store various data on people or stolen cars may only be operational in November 2007, as opposed to the earlier EU's plan to have it up-and-running next March.
He pointed out that the original deadline could still be achieved "if we join forces and speed up our work on the data base."
"Our goal remains expanding Schengen by the end of the next year," Mr Frattini noted, while pointing out that if delays occur the new member states could at least be allowed to lift land border controls earlier than controls at airports.
If the security system is delayed, passport checking at new countries' airports could only disappear in March or October 2008, as the system can only be introduced at the same time as the seasonal changes of air timetables.
Ministers from the new member states insisted the EU should do everything possible to fulfill its promise concerning the Schengen zone.
"We were assured [of the entry to the border-free zone] already when joining the EU in 2004 but so far we feel like second-rate countries," Czech interior minister Frantisek Bublan commented, according to Czech CTK agency.
He added "It would improve the EU's image if the border controls were lifted, it would feel like we are a proper part of Europe."
The Schengen zone was established by a 1985 agreement signed by France, Germany and the Benelux countries which came into force in 1995.
The border-free area currently comprises 13 "old" member states (excluding the UK and Ireland), plus two non-EU states - Norway and Iceland.
