Tighter borders may threaten EU's Schengen idea

Hundreds of thousands of football fans traveled to Germany for the Euro 2024 football championship. Ahead of and during the tournament, random checks were carried out at the borders to ensure security. Germany is now once again debating whether it would make sense to extend these temporary controls at borders with other EU countries.

EU law generally prohibits identity checks within the Schengen Area, permitting temporary controls only in very restricted circumstances. The Schengen Area includes all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus, as well as the non-EU countries Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Iceland. The Schengen Treaty was named after a village in Luxembourg, where the first agreement to abolish border controls was signed by five EU states in 1985.

'One of the crown jewels of European integration'

The EU single market pledges free movement of goods, services, capital and people within the bloc. Traveling across borders without controls is one of the cornerstones of the European integration process. Earlier this year, European Commission Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life Margaritis Schinas said that "Schengen remains one of the crown jewels of European integration."

The benefits of the borderless Schengen Area are enjoyed by 420 million EU citizens and about 500 million annual travelers to the bloc from non-EU states. Before the EU member states abolished internal border controls in the 1990s, efficient control of the bloc's external borders was agreed to in accordance with common criteria.

But many EU interior ministers find the external borders inadequate. There have been more and more complaints about what perceive as the lack of protection for the European Union's external borders, particularly since 2015, when major movements of migrants from the Middle East into the EU via Greece and Italy intensified. In October 2023, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Kamer said that Schengen had "never been as broken as it is now." He thinks it is too easy for people without passports or visas to enter the EU.

Tightening of borders since 2015

Transit countries and countries along the Balkan route that some migrants use to reach the EU have started to reintroduce checks at their borders. There have been controls on the border between Austria and Germany since 2015. France also tightened controls after devastating terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016.

In its annual State of Schengen Report, the European Commission says the checks at numerous internal EU borders are not "systematic" and do not affect all people wanting to cross. It says visual checks tend to be carried out on some highways and train lines, with some people targeted for further identification or inspection. The checks do not usually cause major delays or traffic jams on the borders. The idea is not to inspect trucks and other goods vehicles, nor commuters if possible.

The European Commission has recommended mixed teams of patrols from different countries that can spontaneously set up checkpoints behind borders and inspect papers, visas and residence permits instead of erecting visible control posts on highways. The EU also has a mechanism whereby people can be checked within an area of 30 km on both sides of a border even if there is no concrete suspicion. The Schengen borders code, which was recently revised and adopted by all of the EU's member states, states that "border control at internal borders shall only be reintroduced as a last resort."

Some exceptions allowed

In theory, systematic border controls are only permitted if there are particular dangers or in the event of planned major events such as the Olympic Games, G7 summits or, indeed, major football tournaments. They are supposed to last a maximum of six months and must be justified on a case-by-case basis, as required by the European Court of Justice.

In practice, however, member states have time and time again implemented their own exceptions using justifications such as migration, the threat of terrorism or security concerns in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some countries also tightened borders after October's Hamas terror attacks on Israel in October 2023. The European Commission regularly issues rebukes to member states that erect border controls and requests them to limit these to what is absolutely necessary, but its power is limited. 

Member states do not have to receive permission from the European Union to erect border controls at internal borders, but they do have to announce plans four weeks in advance.

There is also an emergency regulation in the code that allows for member states to shut borders on short notice "in the event of a serious threat to public policy or internal security."

Police use of Schengen Information System

In their investigations, police officers often make use of the Schengen Information System (SIS), a governmental database maintained by the European Commission. It contains data regarding all arrest warrants across the bloc and can bring up information about an inspected person anywhere in the EU, not only at national borders, as it is available to police everywhere.

Politicians on the German right have argued that the Euro 2024 border controls were so efficient that they should be maintained.

But officials from the European Commission, who asked not to be named in this report, said 22,000 additional police officers and the inspection of 800,000 people had indeed led to a high number of suspects being caught, but that did not mean that such work had to be carried out at borders. They pointed out that there might have been similar results if 800,000 checks had been conducted on motorways or in railway stations.

In its State of Schengen Report, the European Commission points out that drug-related crime, for example, is better fought at the source, namely in major EU ports such as Hamburg, Antwerp or Amsterdam, and not at land borders within the Schengen Area. In principle, the EU member states agree with this and are developing action plans for better control of the harbors (external borders of the EU).

Police statistics show that the total number of crime in Germany has fallen since the Schengen Agreement was enacted in 1995. That year, 6.6 million crimes were registered by the police. In 2023 the figure was 5.9 million.

This article was translated from German.

Correction: An earlier version of the graphic included in this article incorrectly indicated that Croatia was not a Schengen member. The graphic has been updated.