Schengen Agreement
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Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders | |
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Signed | 14 June 1985 (38 years, 10 months and 3 days ago) |
Location | Schengen, Luxembourg |
Effective | 26 March 1995 (29 years and 22 days ago) |
Original signatories | Belgium France West Germany Luxembourg Netherlands |
Parties | Austria Belgium Bulgaria[a] Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland[b] Italy Latvia Liechtenstein[b] Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway[b] Poland Portugal Romania[a] Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland[b] |
Depositary | Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg |
Full text | |
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement at Wikisource |
The Schengen Agreement (English: /ˈʃɛŋən/ SHENG-ən, Luxembourgish: [ˈʃæŋən] ⓘ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the ten member states of the then European Economic Community. It proposed measures intended to gradually abolish border checks at the signatories' common borders, including reduced-speed vehicle checks which allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping, allowing residents in border areas freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints, and the harmonisation of visa policies.[1]
In 1990, the Agreement
Originally, the Schengen treaties and the rules adopted under them operated independently from the
History
Disagreement between member states led to an impasse on the abolition of border controls within the Community, but in 1985 five of the then ten member states – Belgium,
The Schengen Agreement was signed independently of the
In 1990, the Agreement was supplemented by the Schengen Convention which proposed the abolition of internal border controls and a
The Schengen Agreement and its implementing Convention were enacted in 1995 only for some signatories,[
In December 1996 two non-EU member states, Norway and Iceland, signed an association agreement with the signatories of the Agreement to become part of the Schengen Area. While this agreement never came into force, both countries did become part of the Schengen Area after concluding similar agreements with the EU.[10] The Schengen Convention itself was not open for signature by non-EU member states.[11] In 2009, Switzerland finalised its official entry to the Schengen Area with the acceptance of an association agreement by popular referendum in 2005.[12]
Now that the Schengen Agreement is part of the
This situation means that non-EU Schengen member states have few formally binding options to influence the shaping and evolution of Schengen rules; their options are effectively reduced to agreeing or withdrawing from the agreement. However, consultations with affected countries are conducted prior to the adoption of particular new legislation.[15]
In 2016, border controls were temporarily reintroduced in seven Schengen countries (Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Sweden) in response to the
Portugal reintroduced checks several times along its border with Spain, during the UEFA Euro 2004 championships and when Portugal hosted the NATO 2010 Lisbon summit. Portugal also reintroduced border checks from 10 May 2017 to 14 May 2017, during Pope Francis's visit to Fátima, Portugal.[18]
Border controls were reintroduced throughout the area during the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]
On 8 December 2022 the Justice and Home Affairs Council voted to admit Croatia to the Schengen Area, but rejected Bulgaria and Romania. Austria and the Netherlands voted against the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania, with Austria claiming that there had been a rapid increase in the number of migrants using the West Balkan route to enter the EU illegally. [20] On 30 December 2023 the EU agreed to include Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen Area, with Austria no longer vetoing the enlargement of the area. Air and sea ports will no longer conduct border checks from 31 March 2024, while the end of land border checks will require further discussions.[21][22]
See also
- Central America-4 Border Control Agreement
- eu-LISA
- European Neighbourhood Policy
- Internal market
- Prüm Convention
Notes
References
- ^ a b Respectively Articles 2, 6 and 7 of the Schengen Agreement, EUR-Lex; accessed 27 January 2016.
- ^ "Schengen Agreement | Schengen Area - All about Schengen | BTW". btwvisas.com. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
- ^ Schengen Visa Information. "Schengen Area Countries". Schengen Visa Information. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ Anonymous (6 December 2016). "Schengen Area - Migration and Home Affairs - European Commission". Migration and Home Affairs - European Commission.
- ^ Council Directive on administrative practices and procedures concerning settlement, employment and residence in a Member State of the Community of workers and their families from another Member State (OJ 80, 13 December 1961, p. 1513.)
- ^ Lungescu, Oana. "Fortress Europe". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ISBN 0-19-924943-1.
- ^ The complete acquis, including the fundamental Agreement and Convention and some subsequent acts and instruments brought about meanwhile in its legal framework, had been published here: "Official Journal of the European Communities – The Schengen Acquis" (PDF). 22 September 2000. Retrieved 25 November 2007..
- ^ "Schengen Area Countries List - Schengen Zone". Schengen VISA Information. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- ^ "EUR-Lex - 21999A0710(02) - EN - EUR-Lex". eur-lex.europa.eu. 18 May 1999. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ Article 140 of the Schengen Convention.
- ^ Allen M. (March 2009). Switzerland's Schengen entry finally complete. swissinfo.ch; retrieved 14 June 2013.
- codecision procedure) took the place of the Executive Committee that had been created under the agreement Council Decision of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty
- ^ Example: By article 39 subsection 1 of the Schengen Borders Code, Articles 2 to 8 of the Schengen Agreement had been repealed – "Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code)" (PDF). 13 April 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2007..
- ^ "The Schengen area and cooperation". Summaries of EU legislation. European Commission. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
In practice, this involvement takes the form of mixed committees that meet alongside the working parties of the EU Council. They comprise representatives of the Member States' governments, the Commission and the governments of third countries. Associated countries therefore participate in discussions on the development of the Schengen acquis, but do not take part in voting. Procedures for notifying and accepting future measures or acts have been laid down.
- ^ "Schengen: Controversial EU free movement deal explained - BBC News". BBC News. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "DGs - Migration and Home Affairs - What we do - ...Schengen Area - Reintroduction-border-control". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
- ^ "Portugal declares Papal holiday". Retrieved 28 April 2017.
- ^ "Europe Barricades Borders to Slow Coronavirus". The New York Times. 17 March 2020. Archived from the original on 17 March 2020.
- ^ "Schengen: No EU border-free zone for Romania and Bulgaria". BBC News. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ HÜLSEMANN, LAURA (28 December 2023). "Romania, Bulgaria set to partially enter Schengen zone in March". Politico. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ^ "Bulgaria and Romania to join Schengen area starting with air and sea borders: Commission welcomes landmark Council decision". European Commission - European Commission.
External links
- Agreement between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders – The Schengen Agreement
- Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the gradual abolition of checks at their common borders – Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement
- Schengen Archived 16 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine – eurotopics
- The Schengen Area: collection of resources (texts, images, videos,...) – CVCE– Virtual Resource Centre for Knowledge about Europe
- The Schengen Acquis – EUR-Lex