The
Schengen Area is a group of twenty-five
European countries which have abolished all border controls between
each other.
It originates from the eponymous agreement signed in the
Luxembourgish
town of Schengen
in 1985, which has since been absorbed into the
European Union. All EU members except
Ireland
and the United Kingdom
are required to implement Schengen and—with the
exceptions of Bulgaria
, Cyprus
, and
Romania
—have done so. Three non-member
states—Iceland
, Norway
, and
Switzerland
—have also implemented the Schengen rules. As
such, the Area currently covers a population of over 400 million
people and an area of .
Implementing the Schengen rules involves eliminating border
controls with other Schengen members while simultaneously
strengthening border controls with non-member states. The rules
include provisions on common
policy
on the temporary entry of persons (including the Schengen
visa), the harmonisation of external border controls, and
cross-border police and judicial co-operation.
A passport or an EU approved national identity card should be
brought anyway when traveling, since identity checks can be done at
places like airports and hotels and by the police. This depends on
national rules and varies between countries. Occasionally, regular
border controls are used between Schengen countries.
Membership
The Schengen Area currently consists of twenty-five states.
Before
2007 there were fifteen Schengen countries: Austria
, Belgium
, Denmark
, Finland
, France
, Germany
, Greece
, Iceland, Italy
, Luxembourg, the Netherlands
, Norway, Portugal
, Spain
and Sweden
. Of
these Iceland and Norway are not EU members but negotiated
agreements with the EU in order to participate.
Ireland
and The
United
Kingdom are the only EU member states that are not full
members of, or committed to join, the Schengen Area, having
negotiated an opt-out from the Schengen acquis in the Treaty of Amsterdam. However, the United Kingdom opted into the provisions related to police and
judicial cooperation a few years later. The situation in
Ireland is less clear : while the then
Minister for
Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr
John O'Donoghue TD, expressed some level
interest in participating in the Schengen acquis at some time in
the future on behalf of Ireland, that state to-date has opted not
to ratify any of the undertakings regarding Schengen in which it
requested to participate on 28 February 2002 at the European
Council in Brussels. (See
below for further
information.)
In 2007,
nine countries—the Czech
Republic
, Estonia
, Hungary
, Latvia
, Lithuania
, Malta
, Poland
, Slovakia
, and Slovenia
—joined the area, which have joined the EU three
years previously.
Before joining the Schengen Area countries must upgrade their
border controls with non-Schengen states so as to ensure the Area's
integrity. Cyprus, which also joined the EU in 2004, did not meet
the necessary criteria and thus has requested a delay for a year,
while Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007, are still
bringing their border controls up to the required standard.
Schengen's
newest member is Switzerland which joined the Area on 12 December
2008.
a. States outside the EU that are associated with the
Schengen activities of the EU, and where the Schengen rules
apply.
b. For overland borders and seaports; since
30 March 2008 also for airports.
c. East Germany became part of West Germany, joining Schengen, on 3
October 1990. Before this it remained outside the agreement.
Despite
some media reports, Heligoland
is not outside Schengen; it is only outside the
European Union Value
Added Tax Area.
d. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are indirectly
included for citizens who don't need a visa. However, they are
directly unincluded for citizens who need a visa, since the areas
use separate visas, different from the usual Schengen ones.[640736][640737]
e. However, Jan Mayen
is part of the Schengen Area.
f. However, the Sovereign Base Areas are set to be de
facto fully included later.
Enlargement
| prospective members |
| prospective implementation date |
state |
| 2010 or later(estimated) |
|
| 2010 (estimated) |
|
| March 2011 (estimated) |
and |
The
Schengen I agreement was originally signed on 14 June
1985, by five European Community
states: France, West Germany
and the Benelux countries of
Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The
Convention Implementing the
Schengen Agreement, signed on 19 June 1990, put the agreement
into practice.
However, it took until 26 March 1995 for the agreement to be
implemented by these countries.
By then, Portugal and Spain had also
signed, and the Federal
Republic of Germany had absorbed East Germany
. Italy and Greece had also signed, but they
did not implement until 1997 and 2000, respectively. All other
states also delayed the agreements' implementation. Austria signed
in 1995 and implemented two years later. The Nordic states signed
in 1996 and implemented in 2001. The Nordic countries had a
previous passport free zone separate from the Community (and still
have), which is why non-EU members Norway and Iceland are party to
Schengen — as well as the undesirable cost of heavy policing on the
long border which Norway shares with the EU states Sweden and
Finland.
Before fully implementing the Schengen laws, each new state will
need to have its preparedness assessed in four areas:
air borders,
visa,
police cooperation, and
personal data protection. This
evaluation process involves a questionnaire and visits of EU
experts to selected institutions and workplaces of the country
under assessment. The
Council of the European Union
has reviewed the results between April and September 2007.
Status of the European microstates
These microstates, not being actual members of the Schengen Area,
cannot issue Schengen visas. Visitors have to travel through a
Schengen state to reach them, except that boats can go directly to
Monaco (see table). Visitors are not allowed to travel to these
states by a helicopter or small plane flight that takes off from a
non-Schengen country.
| flag |
state |
status |
since |
notes |
|
Andorra |
non-member |
|
Border controls remain on Andorra's borders with both
France and Spain. Citizens of EU countries require
their national identity card (or passport for UK and Irish
citizens) to enter Andorra, while anyone else requires a passport
or equivalent. Those travellers who need a visa to
enter the Schengen area need a multiple-entry visa to visit
Andorra, because entering Andorra means leaving the Schengen
area. |
|
Liechtenstein |
de-facto member |
|
Liechtenstein was supposed to join the Schengen Area on
1 November 2009, but has had a de facto open border with both its
neighbours, Austria and Switzerland, since the latter joined the
Schengen Area (see
below). Schengen entry was postponed because of
no Swedish ratification of the accession. |
|
Monaco |
de-facto and de-jure member |
|
Monaco has an open border with France.
Schengen laws are administered as if it were a part of
France, and French authorities carry out checks at Monaco's
seaport. There are ceremonial guards at the road
entrances to Monaco, but they never stop entrants. |
|
San
Marino |
de-facto member |
|
San Marino has an open border with Italy, although some
random checks are made by Carabinieri,
Polizia di San Marino and
Guardia di Finanza. |
|
Vatican City |
de-facto member |
|
Vatican City has an open border (exit only) with
Italy. The microstate has shown an interest in
joining the Schengen agreement for closer cooperation in
information sharing and similar activities covered by the Schengen Information
System. |
Status of Ireland and the United Kingdom
Ireland and the United Kingdom were the only two EU members prior to the 2004
enlargement that did not sign the 1990 Schengen Convention and
which instead obtained an
opt-out to that part of the Treaty of Amsterdam implementing the
Schengen acquis into the Law of the European Union by inserting a
protocol relating to the entire corpus of the Schengen Convention
(also called the Schengen acquis). Although that
treaty transferred the existing Schengen rules into the law of the
European Union, which is also applicable in Ireland and the United
Kingdom, not all provisions which were made under the Schengen
treaties became applicable in the UK and Ireland. Furthermore, the
new EU competence to pass new laws in the areas which were governed
by the Schengen rules did not automatically extend to Ireland and
the UK. However, under the relevant protocol to the
Treaty of Amsterdam Ireland and the
United Kingdom reserved the right to apply to
opt-in to
partial or complete application of the Schengen acquis. This
selective "opt-in" arrangement has been ruled by the European Court
of Justice as being entirely at the discretion of the Schengen
states, and not a legal right of Ireland or the UK.
Ireland
and the UK maintain a Common Travel
Area with no border controls; thus Ireland is unable to join
Schengen without dissolving this agreement with the UK, and
incurring controls at its border with Northern Ireland
. At the time of the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam both the United
Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland remained reluctant to
participate in three key aspects relating to the Schengen acquis :
their own mutual external border-control system, their right to
cross-border surveillance on the border between the Republic of
Ireland and Northern Ireland and to extend mutual rights to their
law-enforcement authorities to make incursions into each other's
territories whilst in hot-pursuit.On 6 October 1999, the UK
made use of the possibility to
opt in, and the UK
Home Secretary,
Jack
Straw MP, formally requested to participate in a number of
provisions of the Schengen acquis, and this was acknowledged by the
Council of the European
Union on 29 May 2000.
2000/365/EC: Council Decision of 29 May 2000
concerning the request of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland to take part in some of the provisions of the
Schengen acquis This expressed request was subsequently
granted on 22 December 2004, and put into effect in the United Kingdom as and from 1 January 2005, also in Gibraltar
.
The
Republic of
Ireland made a similar request to that submitted by the
United
Kingdom, and which was acknowledged by the Council of the European Union
on 28 February 2002 2002/192/EC: Council Decision of 28 February 2002
concerning Ireland's request to take part in some of the provisions
of the Schengen acquis. However, this was never
put into effect.
Therefore, the part of the Schengen rules
(or acquis) that cover police and judicial co-operation
have been put into effect by European Union decision for the
United
Kingdom, with the exception of those elements linked to
border controls as well as cross border surveillance and hot
pursuit. The Republic of Ireland, on the other hand, has not
yet ratified, or formally put into effect, its request to
participate in the Schengen acquis by
European Union decision by the
Council of the European
Union.
The
reluctance of the UK government to fully join the Schengen
agreement has been criticised by the House of Lords
, which accused the government of hampering the
fight against cross-border crime due to the inability of the UK to
access the Schengen
Information System, which contains data on potentially
problematic persons, for immigration control purposes.
A 1999 report by the European Communities Select Committee of the
House of Lords recommended “full United Kingdom participation” in
Schengen: “We believe that in the three major areas of
Schengen—border controls, police co-operation (SIS) and
visa/asylum/immigration policy—there is a strong case, in the
interests of the United Kingdom and its people, for full United
Kingdom participation.”
In October 2007, the UK Government announced plans to introduce an
electronic border control system by 2009 and this led to
speculation that the
Common Travel
Area would formally cease to exist. However, in response to a
question on the issue, the Irish
Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern stated "On the question of
whether this is the end of the common travel area and should we
join Schengen, the answer is 'No'."
Status of Cyprus
While Cyprus is a signatory to the Schengen Agreement,
implementation has been delayed until at least 2010 due to the
Cyprus dispute. According to Cypriot
Minister of Foreign Affairs
George
Lillikas, "strict and full control based on Schengen will
create a huge tribulation on a daily basis for the Turkish
Cypriots", and it is unclear if this control is possible before the
resolution of the dispute. The
Sovereign Base Areas, which are outside
the EU, will also need "other handling and mechanisms".
Rules concerning border controls
Travel without internal border controls
Before the implementation of the
Schengen Agreement, most borders in
Western Europe were patrolled and a vast network of border posts
existed around the continent, to check the identity and entitlement
of people wishing to travel from one country to another. Visa
requirements also varied and the possessors of visas to visit one
European country would not necessarily be entitled to visit others
without separate visas.
Since the implementation of the Schengen rules, border posts have
been closed (and often demolished) between participating countries.
The
Schengen Borders Code requires participating states to
remove all obstacles to free traffic flow at internal borders.
Thus, road, rail and air passengers no longer have their identity
checked by border guards when crossing borders (however, security
controls by carriers are still permissible). Visitors to Schengen
countries can receive a
Schengen Visa which
entitles them to travel freely throughout the Schengen Area.
File:OffeneGrenzeNiederndorf-Oberaudorf.jpg|A
typical Schengen internal border (here near Kufstein
between Germany and Austria): the traffic island marks the spot where a control
post once stood; it was removed in 2000.File:B1 Anfang Aachen
01.jpg|Some Schengen internal borders can be found within closely
built-up areas – here near Aachen
between
Germany and the Netherlands: The left-turn lane is located in the Netherlands,
while the road which the driver would turn into is already located
in Germany.File:Baarle-Nassau frontière café.jpg|The
internal Schengen border between the Netherlands and Belgium is clearly marked between Baarle-Nassau
and Baarle-Hertog
.File:Eurode-Business-Center.jpg|The border
between the Netherlands and Germany crosses through this building of the Eurode
Business Centre in Kerkrade
and Herzogenrath
. The facility also contains a jointly
operated Dutch-German police station.
Regulation of external border controls
Schengen also requires member countries to apply strict checks on
people entering or exiting the area. These checks are co-ordinated
by the European Union's
Frontex agency, and
subject to common rules. The details of border controls,
surveillance, and the conditions under which permission to enter
into the Schengen area may be granted are exhaustively detailed in
a
European Union
regulation called
Schengen Borders Code. All
persons crossing external borders — inbound or outbound — have to
be subject to a minimum identity check. The entitlement of
travellers to enter the Schengen Area also need to be checked when
relevant. Exit controls allow, among other things, to determine if
a person leaving the area was entitled to enter the area in the
first place, whether that person had extended his or her stay
beyond the permitted period, and to check against alerts on persons
and objects included in the Schengen Information System and reports
in national data files. For example when an arrest warrant had been
issued by a Schengen State.
The external border controls are located at roads crossing a
border, at airports, at seaports, and onboard trains.
Usually there is no
fence along borders in the terrain, but there are exceptions like
the Ceuta border
fence
. However, surveillance camera systems, some
equipped with infrared technology, are located at some more
critical spots, for example at the border between Slovakia and Ukraine
. Along the southern coast of the Schengen
countries, coast guards are making a substantial effort to prevent
private boats from entering without permission.
The Schengen rules require that all passenger carriers across the
Schengen external border must check, before boarding, if the
passenger has the travel document and visa required for entry. This
is to prevent persons from applying for
asylum at the passport control after landing
within the Schengen area.
Entry conditions for third-country nationals
The Schengen rules include uniform rules as to the type of
visa which may be issued for a short-term
stay, not exceeding 90 days, on the territory of one, several or
all of those States. The rules also include common requirements for
entry into the Schengen area, and common procedures for refusal of
entry.
According to the Schengen Borders Code, the conditions applying to
third-country nationals for entry are as follows:
- The third-country national is in possession of a valid travel
document or documents authorising them to cross the border; the
acceptance of travel documents for this purpose remains within the
domain of the member states;
- The traveller either possesses a valid visa (if required) or a
valid residence permit;
- The traveller can justify the purpose and conditions of the
intended stay and has sufficient means of subsistence, both for the
duration of the intended stay and for the return to his or her
country of origin or transit to a third country into which the
traveller is certain to be admitted, or is in a position to acquire
such means lawfully;
- There has not been issued an alert in the Schengen Information System for
refusal of entry of the traveller, and
- The traveller is not considered to be a threat to public
policy, internal security, public health or the international
relations of any of the Schengen states.
In other words, mere possession of a Schengen visa does not confer
automatic right of entry. It will only be granted if the other
transit or entry conditions laid down by EU legislation have been
met, notably the means of
subsistence
that aliens must have at their disposal, as well as the purpose and
the conditions of the stay.
Third country nationals, holders of a valid Schengen visa (type:
single, double or multiple entry), who have already entered the
Schengen area in accordance with the terms upon which their
Schengen visa was issued, may travel to Cyprus without a Cypriot
national visa and stay in Cyprus for a period equal to the
remainder of the time for which the Schengen visa is valid.
Right of stay
A third-country national who has been granted entry may stay in the
Schengen area and travel between Schengen states as long as the
conditions for entry are still fulfilled. For stays which exceed
three months, so-called national visa (category D) are issued by
the relevant Schengen state where the third-country national
intends to reside. Any third-country national who is a holder of a
residence permit of a Schengen state, which is granted for a stay
which exceeds three months, is allowed to travel to any other
member state for a period of up to three months.
Schengen visa
requirement of a visa for short-term stays in the Schengen area
which do not involve employment or any self-employed activity are
set out in an EU regulation. The list of the nationals which
require a visa for a short-term stay (so-called
Annex I
list) and the visa-free nationals (so-called
Annex II
list) refers to the nationality of the third-country national
and not to the passport or travel document he or she is holding
(with an exception to holders of
Hong
Kong SAR and
Macau SAR passport
holders, and another exception vis a vis holders of
refugee travel documents, where the country which
issued the travel document is relevant). Third-country nationals
who intend to take up employment or self-employed activity may be
required by member states to obtain a visa even if they are listed
on the Schengen visa-free list; usual business trips are normally
not considered employment in this sense. Member States may
establish, with respect to entries and stays in their own
territory, additional visa requirements or waivers for persons
holding diplomatic, official, or other special passports.
Common Schengen Visa, new type
(allowing photograph of bearer to be inserted)
The uniform visa is granted in the form of a sticker affixed by a
Member State onto a
passport, travel
document or another valid document which entitles the holder to
cross the border, provided that the
entry
conditions are met at the time of entry.Cyprus is going to be
schengen march 2010
It is granted in the following categories:
- Category A refers to an airport transit visa.
It is required for some few nationals for passing through the
international transit area of airports during a stop-over or
transfer between two sections of an international flight. The
requirement to have this visa is an exception to the general right
to transit without a visa through an international transit area of
an airport.
- Category B refers to a transit visa. It is
required by nationals who are not visa-free for traveling from one
non-Schengen state to another non-Schengen state, in order to pass
through the Schengen area. Each transit may not exceed five
days.
- Category C refers to a short-term stay visa.
They are issued for reasons other than to immigrate. They entitle
holders to carry out a continuous visit or several visits whose
duration does not exceed three months in any half-year from the
date of first entry.
- Category D refers to national visa. They are
issued by a Schengen state in accordance with its national
legislation as with respect to the conditions (however, a uniform
sticker is used). Only after the holder has obtained a residence
title after arrival in the destination country (or a different
visa), he may again travel to other Schengen countries.
- Category D+C visas combine the functions of
the visa of both categories: They are intended to allow the holder
to enter the issuing Schengen state for long-term stay in that
state, but also to travel in the Schengen area like a holder of a
Category C visa.
- FTD and
FRTD are special visas issued for road (FTD) or
rail (FRTD) transit only between mainland Russian Federation
and its western exclave of Kaliningrad
Oblast
.
Under specific circumstances, the territorial validity of a
Schengen visa of the categories B, C, or D+C is issued with
territorial validity to not all of the Schengen states. Such visa
may, for example, be issued for humanitarian or other specific
reasons. Territorial validity may also be restricted in case that
the travel document in which it is affixed is not accepted by all
of the Schengen states. In such cases, the visa authorises a
foreigner entry, stay, and exit exclusively in the territory of one
or more Schengen member states for which the visa is valid.
Under certain conditions, seamen are issued a visa at the border in
order to board a ship or travel home from a ship in a Schengen
harbour. Furthermore, a visa may also be issued at the border in
exceptional cases, e.g. emergencies.
To obtain a Schengen visa, a traveller must take the following
steps:
- He or she must first identify which Schengen country is the
main destination. This determines the State responsible for
deciding on the Schengen visa application and therefore the
embassy or the consulate where the traveller will have to
lodge the application. If the main destination cannot be
determined, the traveller should file the visa application at the
embassy or consulate of the Schengen country of first entry. If the
Schengen State of the main destination or first entry does not have
a diplomatic mission or consular
post in his country, the traveller must contact the embassy or the
consulate of another Schengen country, normally located in the
traveller's country, which represents, for the purpose of issuing
Schengen visas, the country of the principal destination or first
entry.
- The traveller must then present the Schengen visa application
to the responsible embassy or consulate. A harmonised form is to be
submitted, together with a valid passport and, if necessary, the
documents supporting the purpose and conditions of the stay in the
Schengen area (aim of the visit, duration of the stay, lodging).
The traveller will also have to prove his or her means of
subsistence, i.e., the funds available to cover, on the one hand,
the expenses of the stay, taking into account its duration and the
destination, and, on the other hand, the cost of the return to the
home country. Certain embassies or consulates sometimes call the
applicant to appear in person in order to explain verbally the
reasons for the visa application.
- Finally, the traveller must have travel insurance that covers,
for a minimum of €30,000, any expenses incurred as a result of
emergency medical treatment or repatriation for health reasons. The proof of
the travel insurance must in principle be provided at the end of
the procedure, i.e. when the decision to grant the Schengen visa
has already been made.
Requirements for family members of an
EEA citizen differ from those
indicated above. In general for family members of an EEA citizen,
there is no requirement to provide information about one's
employment, or to prove one's means of subsistence. In addition, no
fee is required for the visa to be issued.
Internal movement of holders of a residence title
Common Model of a Schengen Residence
Permit, here: Form for a German long-term residence permit
Third-country nationals who are holders of a residence title of a
Schengen state may freely enter into and stay in any other Schengen
state for a period of up to three months. For a longer stay, they
require a residence title of the target member state. Third-country
long-term residents of a member state enjoy, under certain
circumstances, the right to settle in other member states..
Internal movement and residence cards according to Directive
2004/38/EC
The right of entry without additional visa was extended to the
non-EEA family members of EEA nationals
exercising their treaty right of
free movement who hold a valid residence card of their EEA host
country and wish to visit any other EEA member state for a short
stay up to 90 days. This is implied in
Directive
2004/38/EC, Article 5(2) provided that they travel together
with the EEA national or join their spouse/partner at a later date
(Article 6(2)). Some member states (as at September 2009), however,
do not follow the Directive in this respect to the effect that
non-EEA family members living in non-Schengen EU countries may
still face difficulties (denial of boarding the vessel by the
transport company, denial to enter by border police) when traveling
to certain Schengen countries with their residence card alone.
Likewise non-Schengen member EU countries may deny entry to
Schengen residence card holders without an additional visa.
Local border traffic at external borders
Schengen States which share an external land border with a
non-Schengen country are authorised by virtue of an EU regulation
to conclude or maintain bilateral Agreements with neighbouring
third countries for the purpose of implementing a local border
traffic regime. The regulation stipulates the conditions which such
agreements must meet. The agreements have to provide for the
introduction of a
local border traffic permit under the
relevant scheme. Such permits must contain the name and a picture
of the holder, as well as a statement that its holder is not
authorised to move outside the border area and that any abuse shall
be subject to penalties. The border area may include any
administrative district within 30 kilometres from the external
border (and, if any district extends beyond that limit, the whole
district up to 50 kilometres from the border).
Holders of such permit may cross the external borders, once there
has not been issued an alert in the
Schengen Information System for
refusal of entry, and they do not form a threat to public policy,
internal security, public health or the international relations of
any of the Member States. The question whether an
additional identity document is required for crossing the border
(and which type may be used), and for how long the permit holder
may stay in the border area, may be regulated bilaterally. The
maximum permitted period of stay may not exceed three months. The
features of the form of the permit have to comply with the uniform
format for residence permits for third-countrynationals. Permits
are valid from one to five years.
Permits may only be issued to persons having been lawful residents
in the border area of a country neighbouring a Schengen State for a
period specified in the relevant bilateral agreement, which
generally has to be at least one year. The applicant for the permit
has to show legitimate reasons to frequently cross an external land
border under the local border traffic regime, and must meet the
specific entry requirements as described above. Schengen states
must keep a central register of the permits issued and have to
provide immediate access to the relevant data to other Schengen
states.
Before
the conclusion of an agreement with a neighbouring country, the
Schengen state must receive approval from the European
Commission
, which has to confirm the legality of its
draft. The agreement may only be concluded if the
neighbouring country grants at least reciprocal rights to the
relevant Schengen state, and readmission of illegally staying
persons from the neighbouring country is ensured. For local border
traffic, fast lanes or special border crossings may be
introduced.
Special arrangement on entry for Croatia
There is
an exception to these rules in the case of citizens of Croatia
. Based on the Pre-Schengen bilateral
agreements between Croatia and its neighboring EU countries (Italy, Hungary and Slovenia), Croatian citizens are allowed to cross the border
with ID card only (passport not obligatory). Many people
living near the border cross it several times a day (some work
across the border, or own land on the other side of the border),
especially on the border with Slovenia, which was unmarked for
centuries as Croatia and Slovenia were both part of
Habsburg Empire (1527–1918) and
Yugoslavia (1918–1991).
As Croatia is
expected to join EU in about 2011, an interim solution, which
received permission from the European Commission, was found: every Croatian citizen is allowed to
cross the Schengen border into Hungary, Italy or Slovenia with an
ID card and an evidention card that is issued by Croatian police at
border exit control. The police authorities of Hungary,
Italy or Slovenia will then stamp the evidention card both on entry
and exit. Croatian citizens, however, are not allowed to enter any
other Schengen agreement countries without a valid passport,
although they are allowed to travel between Hungary, Italy and
Slovenia. This practice will be abandoned once Croatia becomes an
EU member state, which will allow its citizens to enter any member
country using only an ID card.
The Western Balkan states
Visa-free
regime negotiations between the EU and the Western Balkans (excluding Croatia and Kosovo
) were
launched in the first half of 2008, and are currently underway with
Albania
and Bosnia and Herzegovina
, and should start with Kosovo in the
near future as well. The Western Balkan countries (Albania and
the former Yugoslav
republics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia
, Montenegro
, and Serbia
) had
signed a facilitated visa regime with the Schengen states in 2008
(UK
and Ireland excluded), including shorter waiting periods and
free or lower visa fees when compared to other countries whose
citizens require C, D, or C+D Schengen visas.
On 30
November 2009, the EU Council of Ministers for Interior and Justice
has abolished visa requirements for citizens of the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
This will take effect on 19 December 2009.
The citizens of
Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are expected to obtain the same status as soon
as their states comply with the obligations of the road-map.
According to the European Commission, this should happen in the
first half of 2010.
However, citizens of Kosovo holding
Kosovan passports as well as people living in Kosovo holding the
biometric Serbian passport will still need a visa to travel to the
EU. A visa road-map for Kosovo is to be announced and
negotiated in near future.
Temporary reintroduction of internal border controls
A Schengen state is permitted by articles 23 to 31 of the Schengen
Borders Code to reinstate border controls for a short period if
deemed in the interest of national security, but has to follow a
consultation procedure before such an action. This occurred in
Portugal during the
2004 European Football
Championship and in France for the ceremonies marking the 60th
anniversary of
D-Day. Spain temporarily
reinstated border controls during the wedding of Crown
Prince Felipe in 2004. It was used again by
France shortly after the
London bombings in July 2005.
Finland
briefly reinstated border controls during the 2005 World Championships
in Athletics in August 2005 and for the 16th OSCE Ministerial Council in 2008, as did Germany for
the 2006 FIFA World Cup, in 2007
for the 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm
and in March-April 2009 for the NATO Security
Conference. Austria also did so for the
UEFA Euro2008 in June
2008.
Air security
When traveling by air between Schengen countries or within a single
Schengen country, the airlines request identification (usually
passport or
national ID card) at the
airport check-in counters and when
boarding. However, this practice is not a form of an official
border control, but is used to establish the identity of the
passengers. Also, the passengers needing a Schengen visa need to
present a valid one.
ID checks at hotels and other places
According to the Schengen rules, hotels and other types of
commercial accommodation must register all foreign citizens,
including citizens of other Schengen states, by requiring the
completion of a registration form by their own hand. This does not
apply to accompanying spouses and minor children or members of
travel groups. In addition, a valid identification document has to
be produced to the hotel manager or staff. The Schengen rules do
not require any other procedures; thus, the Schengen states are
free to regulate further details on the content of the registration
forms, and identity documents which are to be produced, and may
also require the persons exempted from registration by Schengen
laws to be registered. Enforcement of these rules varies by
country.
Customs control
While border controls serve the purpose of checking whether a
person meets the entry and exit requirements, a customs control
relates to the goods that are transported across a border. While
the EU (and preceding Communities) always enjoyed the exclusive
competence of regulating customs procedures, the
Schengen
II Convention was originally drafted as an international
treaty outside the scope of the EU. Thus, the contracting states
had to find a solution for the abolition of customs controls
without being competent for regulating this matter. To this end,
Article 120 of the
Schengen II Convention provides
that the contracting parties are to ensure that controls of goods
"do not unjustifiably impede the movement of goods at internal
borders". The parties are to facilitate the movement of goods
across internal borders by providing for clearance of goods when
they were cleared through customs for home use. Although the
clearance could, according to the Convention, be conducted either
within the country or at an internal border, the Schengen states
encourage customs clearance within their respective territories. As
far as such simplifications could not be achieved, the Schengen
states bound themselves to agree on an alteration of existing rules
either amongst themselves or within the framework of the European
Community.
The
European Union has abolished not
only customs controls, but also other procedures for the
administrative processing of goods at internal borders, e.g., for
internal taxation, leaving no checks at the borders between EU
states.
At borders between the
European Union Value Added
Tax Area and those zones of the EU that lie outside it, the
presence of customs authorities is permitted.
Customs are also
present in connection with travel within one single member state,
if a part of that state is located outside the EU common customs
area e.g. between Heligoland and mainland Germany. However, the presence
of customs authorities at such borders would not mean that persons
and goods passing the borders may be checked beyond the scope of
spot checks, or on the basis of available intelligence, and such
checks have to be non-systematic in order to comply with the
Schengen Borders Code.
With respect to travel between EU members where one is
non-Schengen, there are identity (passport) checks, but no customs
checks; this applies, for instance, between Ireland or the U.K. and
mainland Europe. However, see "
Booze
cruise".
Since the customs forces form the
financial police of a
state, some countries allow these authorities to conduct routine
inland checks on persons, vehicles, and goods, e.g., to detect
untaxed goods, illegal workers, or persons abusing social
benefits.
Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland
Norway, Iceland, and
Switzerland are the only three states that have fully
implemented the Schengen agreements but are not members of the
EU. Even though Norway and Iceland belong to
the European Economic Area,
some administrative handling of goods imported from the EU may
still be required at their borders. Private persons are only
allowed to bring small amounts of goods and alcohol over the border
tax-free whereas within the EU.
Thus, the original provisions of the
Schengen II
Convention which regulate controls of goods originally could not
be—and were not—set into force with relation to Norway and
Iceland.
However, the
Schengen Borders Code, which became law after
the association of Norway and Iceland, provides that any police
measures at the border may not "have an effect equivalent to border
checks". Checks are permitted when they do not have border control
as an objective, are based on general police information and
experience regarding possible threats, are devised and executed in
a manner clearly distinct from systematic checks on persons at the
external borders, or if they are carried out on the basis of
spot-checks. Since a border check is defined as any check carried
out at border crossing point, to ensure that persons, including
their means of transport and the objects in their possession, may
be authorised to enter or leave the territory,
routine
custom controls are not permissible at internal Schengen borders.
The
Schengen Borders Code does not provide for any exemption of its
scope of application in relation to Norway and Iceland, and is
expressly applicable to those two countries.
Notwithstanding this, the authorities of
Iceland are of the
opinion that they may enforce the same level of customs procedures
towards all travellers entering and leaving the country, as the
country is not a part of the EU customs
union.
Sweden and Finland
Sweden and Finland, members of the EU and of the Schengen area, still
maintain some customs checks in order to control the smuggling of
drugs and alcohol. In accordance with the Schengen
Borders Code, this is permissible, as long as cars are only stopped
when a suspicion of smuggling has been established, or for limited
random checks.
However, since vehicles have to stop at the
toll plaza at the Swedish end of the Oresund Bridge
from Copenhagen
, cars are able to be checked and drivers questioned
by the customs officials at will.
Switzerland
Switzerland, which belongs neither to the EU nor to the
European Economic Area, has
been associated to the Schengen area and began implementing
Schengen rules on 12 December 2008. Initially border
identity checks for travellers were lifted only for land borders
while for air travellers, the controls were lifted on 29 March
2009, subject to certain conditions.
Similar to the arrangements made between the EU, Norway, and
Iceland, the accession agreement concluded between the EU and
Switzerland provides for an exemption of the application of the
rules concerning controls of goods at borders. However, the much
stricter provisions in the Schengen Borders Code providing for the
abolition of internal border checks do not contain any exemption
with respect to Switzerland. The Swiss
Border Guard Corps are of the opinion
that they will not be entitled to perform systematic customs or
other checks on persons for the mere reason that they cross the
border; once the Schengen rules have been implemented in
Switzerland, they are planning to continue to perform spot-checks,
which are based on risk analysis of the authorities.
Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein signed a Schengen-related association with the
European Union on 28 February 2008, and originally planned to join
the Schengen Area on 1 November 2009. This has been put on
hold, awaiting the consent of the Swedish government. Until it
joins, Liectenstein's borders with Austria and Switzerland are
considered Schengen-external borders. Unlike Switzerland,
Liechtenstein belongs to the European Economic Area.
The country has had an open border with Switzerland since 1923, but
when Switzerland joined the Schengen Area on 12 December 2008, the
Liechtenstein–Switzerland border became a Schengen-external border,
requiring border checks.
For Switzerland, its open border with Liechtenstein was an
important issue as some EU states wanted to use the Schengen
enlargement to pressure Liechtenstein regarding fraud issues.
Swiss
customs and border guards have already been manning Liechtenstein's
border crossing with Austria at Schaanwald
-Tisis, effectively
treating Liechtenstein as internal to Switzerland.
Until Liechtenstein joins the Area, an interim arrangement applies
to the Liechtenstein–Switzerland border. Instead of on-site
immigration and customs checkpoints, all roads into Switzerland
from the principality are subject to video surveillance, enabling
the border to remain open. The Austria–Liechtenstein border
crossing at Schaanwald-Tisis is still manned by Swiss customs and
border guards and its operating hours have been expanded to
around-the-clock.
Liechtenstein does not have any airports and
its government has issued a prohibition of takeoffs and landings at
the Balzers
Heliport with respect to non-Schengen countries to
ensure that Liechtenstein has no Schengen external border and
therefore does not represent an immigration risk for the Schengen
area, even with open borders with Switzerland.
Rules concerning police co-operation
The Schengen rules also include provisions for sharing
intelligence, such as information about people, lost and stolen
documents, vehicles, via the
Schengen Information System.
This means that potentially problematic persons cannot 'disappear'
simply by moving from one Schengen country to another.
Administrative assistance
According to Article 39 of the
Schengen II
Convention, police administrations of the Schengen States are
required to grant each other administrative assistance in the
course of the prevention and detection of criminal offences
according to the relevant national laws and within the scope of
their relevant powers. They may cooperate through central bodies
or, in case of urgency, also directly with each other. The Schengen
provisions entitle the competent ministries of the Schengen States
to agree on other forms of cooperation in border regions.
With respect to actions which imply constraint or the presence of
police officers of a Schengen State in another Schengen State,
specific rules apply.
Cross-border observation
Under Article 40 of the
Schengen II Convention, police
observation may be continued across a border if the person observed
is presumed to have participated in an extraditable criminal
offence. Prior authorization of the second state is required,
except if the offence is a felony as defined in Article 40 (7)
of the
Schengen II Convention, and if urgency requires the
continuation of the observation without prior consent of the second
state. In the latter case, the authorities of the second state must
be informed before the end of the observation in its territory, the
request for consent has to be handed over as soon as possible, and
the observation has to be terminated on request of the second
state, or if consent has not been granted after five hours. The
police officers of the first state are bound to the laws of the
second state, must carry identification which shows that they are
police officers, and are entitled to carry their service weapons.
They may not stop or arrest the observed persons, and must report
to the second state after the operation has been finished. On the
other hand, the second state is obliged to assist the enquiry
subsequent to the operation, including judicial proceedings.
Hot pursuit
Under Article 41 of the
Schengen II Convention,
police from one Schengen state may cross national borders to chase
their target, if it is not possible to notify the police of the
second state before entry into that territory, or if the
authorities of the second state are unable to reach the scene in
time to take over the pursuit. The Schengen states may declare if
they restrict the right to hot pursuit into their territory in time
or in distance, and if they allow the neighbouring states to arrest
persons on their territory. However, the second state is obliged to
challenge the pursued person in order to establish the person's
identity or to make an arrest if so requested by the pursuing
state. The right to hot pursuit is limited to land borders. The
pursuing officers either have to be in uniform or their vehicles
have to be marked. They are permitted to carry service weapons,
which may be used only in self-defence. After the operation, the
first state has to report to the second state about its
outcome.
Responsibility and rights
Under Article 42 of the
Schengen II Convention,
police officers of a state who became victims of a criminal offence
in another Schengen state while on duty there, enjoy the same right
of compensation as an officer of the second state. According to
Article 43 of the
Schengen II Convention, the state
which employs a police officer is liable towards that state for
damages for illegal actions performed in another state by such
police officer.
Liaison officers
Article 47 of the
Schengen II agreement provides for
the permanent deployment of liaison officers to other Schengen
states.
Further bilateral measures
Many neighbouring Schengen states have introduced further bilateral
measures for police cooperation in border regions, which are
expressly permitted under Article 39 subsection 5 of the Schengen
Agreement. Such cooperation may include joint police radio
frequencies, police control centres, and tracing units in border
regions. Furthermore, police laws of some Schengen States allow for
the
ad hoc conferment of police powers to police officers
of other EU states.
Prüm Convention and Schengen III Regulation
An
agreement was signed on 27 May 2005 by Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium at Prüm
, Germany. This agreement, based on the principle of
availability which began to be discussed after the
Madrid bomb attack on 11
March 2004, could enable them to exchange all data regarding
DNA,
fingerprint and
Vehicle Registration Data of concerned persons and to cooperate
against
terrorism. Furthermore, it
contains provisions for the deployment of armed
sky marshals on intra-Schengen flights, joint
police patrols, entry of (armed) police forces into the territory
of another state for the prevention of immediate danger,
cooperation in case of mass events or disasters. Furthermore, the
police officer responsible for an operation in a state may, in
principle, decide inhowfar the police forces of the other states
which take part in the operation may use their weapons or exercise
other powers. Sometimes known as the
Prüm Convention, this treaty
is becoming known as the
Schengen III Agreement.
Certain (non-Schengen / 3rd pillar) provisions were adopted into EU
law for all EU states Members in June 2008, as Council Decision
with its provisions falling under the
third
pillar of the
EU.
With
respect to subject matters which are to be regulated within the
first
pillar of the
EU, the implementation would require an initiative from the
European
Commission, which enjoys the monopoly (excepting the Member
States) on legislative
initiative in that pillar. The Commission has not made
use of its right to initiative with regard to such content of the
Prüm Convention. The Prum Decision (2008/615/JHA and its
implementing Decision 2008/616/2008) provide for Law Enforcement
Cooperation in criminal matters primarily related to exchange of
Fingerprint, DNA (both on a hit no-hit basis) and Vehicle
registration (direct access via Eucaris system) data. The data
exchange provisions are to be implemented until 2012.
Judicial cooperation
Direct Legal Assistance
The Schengen states are obliged to grant each other legal
assistance in criminal justice with respect to all types of
offences and misdemeanors (Article 49 of the
Schengen
II Convention), this including tax and other fiscal offences
(Article 50 of the
Schengen II Convention), except
for certain small crimes, as defined in Article 50 of the
Schengen II Convention. All Schengen states may serve
court documents by mail to another Schengen State, but must attach
a translation, if there is reason to believe that the addressee
would not understand the original language of the document served
(Article 52 of the
Schengen II Convention). Requests
for legal assistance may be exchanged directly between the judicial
authorities of the Schengen states, without having to use
diplomatic channels (Article 53 of the
Schengen II
Convention).
In Articles 54 to 58 of the
Schengen II Convention,
detailed rules concerning the application of the principle that no
person may be sentenced twice for the same criminal offence in the
Schengen States are laid down. Articles 59 to 69 of the
Schengen II Convention contain rules concerning
extradition between Schengen States and the enforcement of prison
sentences which were handed down in one state in a different
state.
Controlled substances
In Articles 67 to 76 of the
Schengen II Convention,
rules are laid down with respect to the traffic of controlled
substances. The Schengen states are obliged to prosecute illegal
trade in narcotics. They have to provide for the forfeiture of
profits which derive from illegal trade of controlled substances.
The control of cross-border legal trade in such substances has to
be exercised in the territory, not at the borders. Persons are
permitted to transport controlled substances into the territory of
other Schengen states if they carry proper official documentation
of an according authorization from a Schengen state, e.g. a medical
prescription for narcotics.
Weapons and ammunition
In Articles 77 to 91 of the
Schengen II Convention,
the control of weapons and ammunition are set out in detail.
Regulations regarding which weapons may only be possessed with a
valid licence, and which weapons are free, are either contained in
the convention itself or may be subject to further legislation at
the EU (Schengen) level. Accordingly, the Schengen rules also
harmonize the prerequisites for granting permits to produce,
purchase, and trade in weapons and ammunition. The according
Schengen rules are supplemented by the
Council Directive
91/477/EEC of 18 June 1991 on control of the acquisition and
possession of weapons, which introduced a
European
Firearms Pass which entitles the holder to carry a firearm
into the territory of other Member States.
Mutuality of visa requirements
It is a political goal of the European Union to achieve freedom
from visa requirements for
citizens of the European
Union at least in such countries the citizens of which may
enter the Schengen area without visa.
To this end, the
European
Commission negotiates with third-countries, the citizens of
which do not require visas to enter the Schengen area for
short-term stays, about the abolishment of visa requirements which
exist for at least some EU member states. The European
Commission involves the member state concerned into the
negotiations, and has to frequently report on the mutuality
situation to the European Parliament
and the Council. The Commission
may recommend the temporary restoration of the visa requirement for
nationals of the third country in question.
The European Commission has dealt with the question of mutuality of
the abolishment of visa requirements towards third countries on the
highest political level.
With regard to Mexico
and
New
Zealand
, it already has achieved complete mutuality.
With
respect to Canada
, the
Commission has achieved visa-free status for all members except
Romania, Bulgaria and more recently the Czech republic due to the
influx of Czech nationals seeking refugee status in Canada .
With
respect to the U.S.
, it is
optimistic about new legislation modifying the Visa Waiver Program but "reserves the
right to propose retaliatory measures if expected progress towards
full visa reciprocity fails to materialise in good
time."
Statistics
According to information of the European Commission, which is
partly based on partly estimated figures received from the Member
States, and which was published in connection with the Commission's
plans to introduce a biometric entry and exit registration system
in the Schengen zone,
- there are 1,792 designated and controlled border crossing
points at the external EU border; of them, 665 are located at air
borders, 871 at sea borders, and 246 at land borders;
- 880 million persons crossed the external borders of the EU27 in
2005, and 878 million persons did so in 2006; based on the tourism
statistics of overnight stays, the statistics lead to a figure of
300 million external border crossings per annum;
- more than 300,000 persons were refused entry at external EU
borders in the year 2006, compared to 280,000 in 2005 and 397,000
in 2004; in most cases, refusal was based on insufficient travel
documents or the suspicion of intended illegal immigration;
- up to 8 million illegal immigrants stayed within the EU in
2006, an estimated 80% of them within the Schengen area;
- in 2006, 500,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended in the EU,
compared to 429,000 in 2005 and 396,000 in 2004, and 75% of the
illegal immigrants that were detected on the territory of Member
States in the year 2006 were nationals which require a visa to the
EU.
According to information of the
SaarLorLux Regional Commission, about 167,000
workers commute daily in the Greater Luxembourg Region, crossing an
internal Schengen border to get to their workplace. Cross-border
commuting in that region makes out 40% of the overall cross-border
commuting in the EU15.
As of October 2008, about 733,000 persons were registered in the
Schengen Information System for refusal of entry.
See also
Footnotes
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