Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU internal borders may be reimposed for two years

  • Schengen agreement was signed in 1985 (Photo: johnnyalive)

A proposal is being floated that would allow the reintroduction of internal borders in the Schengen free movement zone for up to two years.

Under current rules, Schengen members are not allowed to clamp down on their own borders for more than a total of six months.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

But a proposal from the EU’s Luxembourg presidency, leaked on Wednesday (2 December) by the London-based civil liberties group Statewatch, says the possibility should be extended to two years.

The Luxembourg presidency says a two-year extension should be permitted “insofar as the exceptional circumstances constitute a serious threat to public policy or internal security.”

The paper notes “one or more member states” should be able to decide to reintroduce border controls “at all or at specific parts of their internal borders.”

Steve Peers, a professor of EU and human rights law at the University of Essex, says the wording suggests this could be applied for the whole of the EU.

“It may be that not every internal border would be subject to checks, but the intention seems to be to issue a blank cheque to this effect,” he said in his blog.

The presidency move follows threats by the EU to suspend Greece from the passport free Schengen area.

The Financial Times on Tuesday reported that EU ministers and officials issued the threat, in part, because Greece is not cooperating with EU border agency Frontex.

Greece said there have been no talks on suspension “raised in the EU framework.”

But it added that some “European circles” are “promoting during the last days this hostile environment towards Greece by unacceptably threatening the country with exiting the Schengen treaty.”

The Luxembourg presidency, for its part, in the same leaked paper, says a Frontex operation should be set up in northern Greece “without delay to address severe difficulties encountered with neighbouring countries.”

The vast majority of people seeking asylum in the EU first enter through Greece before heading towards northern member states like Germany and Sweden.

The UN agency for refugees (UNCHR) says some 740,000 people arrived in Greece since the start of the year. Most cross by boat over the small stretch of water from Turkey before landing on a Greek island.

Schengen is seen as one of the EU’s biggest achievements.

First introduced in 1985, the border-free zone includes 22 out of 28 member states. Non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are also part of the pact. The EU exceptions include Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania, and the UK.

EU Council chief Donald Tusk has made repeated statements that Schengen is at risk of collapse unless external EU borders like the ones in Greece are better managed.

“The only way not to dismantle Schengen is to ensure proper management of EU external borders,” he said in early November.

The inflow of asylum seekers and migrants over the past few months has seen a handful of EU member states reintroduce internal border controls and checks.

The broader debate kicked off after Germany, in mid-September, introduced checks amid a large arrival of asylum seekers transiting through Austria.

Following the German move, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia introduced similar measures. Austria also imposed controls on its shared border with Hungary.

The Dutch stepped up selective border control checks, while Sweden, in mid-November, also reinstated controls.

Hungary, for its part, imposed controls on its borders with Croatia and Serbia and erected fences on both.

Investigation

Revealed: little evidence to justify internal border checks

EUobserver has obtained notification reports from five European states explaining why they want to impose internal border checks. Few provide any substantial evidence to justify the controls, putting the European Commission in a difficult position to end them.

EU Parliament set to sue EU Commission over Hungary funds

The European Parliament will likely take the European Commission to court for unblocking more than €10bn in funds for Hungary last December. A final nod of approval is still needed by European Parliament president, Roberta Metsola.

EU Commission clears Poland's access to up to €137bn EU funds

The European Commission has legally paved the way for Poland to access up to €137bn EU funds, following Donald Tusk's government's efforts to strengthen the independence of their judiciary and restore the rule of law in the country.

Opinion

Potential legal avenues to prosecute Navalny's killers

The UN could launch an independent international investigation into Navalny's killing, akin to investigation I conducted on Jamal Khashoggi's assassination, or on Navalny's Novichok poisoning, in my role as special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, writes the secretary-general of Amnesty International.

Opinion

I'll be honest — Moldova's judicial system isn't fit for EU

To state a plain truth: at present, Moldova does not have a justice system worthy of a EU member state; it is riven with corruption and lax and inconsistent standards, despite previous attempts at reform, writes Moldova's former justice minister.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us