Description
Although movement was already enshrined in the EEC
Treaty, not all the Member States went as far as abolishing internal
border checks. The effective application of free movement was given a
boost in 1985 when Germany, France and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the
Netherlands and Luxembourg) signed an inter-governmental agreement on this
issue of gradually abolishing internal border checks, in the small
Luxembourg border town of Schengen. The Schengen
Agreement was followed in 1990 by the
Schengen Convention, which finally came into force in
March 1995.
By that time, other EU Member States (Italy, Spain,
Portugal and Greece) had joined the initial signatories of this
inter-governmental agreement signed outside the EU framework.
The Schengen Convention
abolished the checks at
internal borders of the signatory States
and created a single external frontier,
where checks for all the Schengen signatories were to be carried out in
accordance with a common set of rules.
The Schengen Convention is designed to
take into account the interests of all the States that have signed up to
it. Accordingly, this freedom of movement without being submitted to
checks at internal borders was accompanied by so-called
compensatory measures . These measures
involve setting a common visa regime,
improving coordination between the police, customs
and the judiciary and taking additional steps to combat problems
such as terrorism and organised crime.
The Schengen signatories agreed that each country could only reintroduce
controls on their mutual borders in certain well-specified circumstances.
The harmonised EU external border
controls are defined in Article 6 of the Schengen Convention. They are
further specified in the common manual on external
borders, a set of operational instructions on the conditions for
entering the territory of the signatories States and detailed procedures
and rules for carrying out checks. A complex information system known as
the Schengen information system (SIS) was set up to exchange data on
certain categories of people and lost or stolen goods.
The Schengen Convention, however, did not aim at
regulating the right to long-term residence and work, neither for EU
citizens nor for third-country nationals.
The right of every European citizen to move and
reside freely within the territory of the Member States is enshrined in
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU,
adopted in December 2000. The charter also states that these rights 'may'
be granted to third-country nationals.
up
Members
As of March 2001, 13 EU Member States
are signed up to the Schengen Agreement. They are Belgium, Denmark,
Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria,
Portugal, Finland and Sweden.
Ireland and the
United Kingdom never signed up to the
Schengen Convention and have thus not ended border controls with other EU
Member States, although they will participate, in the future, in those
aspects of Schengen that entail cooperation between police forces and the
judiciary. For this reason, EU citizens, as well as third-country
nationals, still have to show their passports when travelling between the
UK or Ireland and the rest of the EU (although not between Ireland and the
UK, which together with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man constitute
a common travel area for which passports are not needed).
Although
Denmark
has signed the Schengen Agreement, it can choose within the EU framework
whether or not to apply any new decision taken under the agreement. In
addition, an association agreement has been concluded with
Iceland and Norway , two countries which
apply the Schengen provisions completely. In July 2002, negotiations began
in view of associating Switzerland, which wants to participate in the
Schengen acquis.
up
How does the Schengen Convention fit into the EUs legal and
institutional framework?
A protocol attached to the Treaty of
Amsterdam incorporates the developments brought about by Schengen into the
European Unions legal and institutional framework. The Schengen area now
comes under the scrutiny of the European Parliament and of the Court of
Justice of the European Communities, ensuring democratic parliamentary
control and giving citizens accessible legal remedies when their rights
are challenged (Court of Justice and/or national courts depending on the
area of law), although the competence of the Court of Justice in this area
is partially limited.
One of the Councils most important
tasks in incorporating the Schengen provisions was to determine which
measures taken by the signatory states formed a genuine
acquis ,
i.e. a body of law which has to be applied by all Member States applying
the Schengen provisions and which countries seeking EU membership must
adopt into their own national legislation. A list
of the elements which make up the acquis ,
setting out the corresponding legal basis for each in the Treaties (EC
Treaty or the Treaty on European Union) was adopted on 20 May
1999 .
up
How does the EU maintain
its internal security?
The Schengen Convention, now
integrated in the EU framework, includes a detailed series of
measures designed to compensate for a lack of internal border controls by
reinforcing security at the Union's external
frontiers. Key among these measures is the requirement that Member
States with an external EU frontier have a responsibility to ensure that
proper checks and effective surveillance are carried out at the EU's
external frontiers. Once a person is inside the Schengen area, he or she
is free to move around wherever he or she wants for a short time period.
It is therefore vital that checks and controls at the EU's external
frontiers be rigorous enough to stop illegal immigration, drug smuggling
and other unlawful activities.
Schengen also provides for better cooperation and
coordination between police services and judicial authorities as an aid to
Member States' internal security, and in particular to fight effectively
against organised crime. This is the context for the creation of the
Schengen information system (SIS). The SIS is a complex database that
enables the law-enforcement, judicial and consular authorities of EU
Member States to exchange data on certain categories of persons and on
lost or stolen goods.
up
Who does what?
The European Commission shares the right to initiate
proposals with Member States in this area. This means that the Commission
is partly responsible for proposing policies and actions, as well as
implementing and executing them.
What accompanying measures
have been taken?
Beyond recognising freedom of movement as a
fundamental right, the EU has taken several accompanying measures in order
to facilitate its implementation, including:
-
simplified formalities for EU nationals;
-
harmonised entry conditions for non EU
nationals;
-
harmonised visa policy;
-
improved documents security.
On the security perspective, a new image archiving
system called FADO is to be set up, allowing EU Member States to exchange
information on EU official documents and help detect any papers that may
be counterfeit.
up
What accompanying measures have been taken?
Beyond recognising freedom of movement
as a fundamental right, the EU has taken several accompanying measures in
order to facilitate its implementation, including:
-
simplified
formalities for EU nationals;
-
harmonised entry
conditions for non EU nationals;
-
harmonised visa policy;
-
improved documents security.
On the security perspective, a new
image archiving system called FADO is to be set up, allowing EU Member
States to exchange information on EU official documents and help detect
any papers that may be counterfeit.
up
What is the Schengen acquis?
The Schengen
acquis is the set of rules
adopted under the Schengen Convention, which includes: the convention
itself and the 1985 agreement; the accession protocols with Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden; and the decisions
and declarations adopted by the Schengen bodies.
It is now part of the EU institutional
and legal framework and countries applying to join the EU will have to
fulfil its requirements. Amongst the key rules
adopted by Schengen group members are:
