The Schengen area was created in 1995 and has become a flagship pillar of the European Union, called by the European Commission a “crown jewel of European integration” and “the beating heart of Europe”. Allowing for the free movement of people and goods, there are no border controls between Member States of the Schengen Area, or at least there shouldn’t be.
Although Schengen has been extending regularly since its creation, over recent years border controls have been increasingly reintroduced between several Member States, with France being the latest country to reinstate checks at all its land borders.
1. Controls at all land borders
Controls have already been in place at the border with Italy since 2015, prompted by the migrant crisis. From 1 November, not only will the measure be maintained at the border with Italy, but it will be extended to all of the country’s neighbours, namely Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and Spain. It will provisionally last until April 2025, when the results will be evaluated and a decision will be made on whether the extraordinary measure will be extended or not.
“The French expect us to have an effective policy to control immigration”, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier wrote on X after visiting the French-Italian border. “The government has just notified the European Commission of the extension of internal border controls, which have been in place since 2015. On the Italian border, the border force has been tested. It is a model that has proved its worth. We are going to extend it on all of France’s land borders.”
This is a model that has proved its worth. We are going to extend it to all France’s land borders.
Michel Barnier, Prime Minister of France
The controls are being introduced at all borders due to “serious threats to public order and internal security from terrorist activities, the growing presence of criminal networks facilitating illegal migration and trafficking, and migratory flows at risk of being infiltrated by radicalised individuals”, the French government said in a statement.
Long queues are expected to form at border crossings as a result of the checks, especially with Germany, which also reintroduced controls at all its land borders in September, meaning travellers could be verified by the authorities of both countries when travelling between them.
2. Schengen under threat
Previously, Germany added controls on the border with Austria in 2015. And although Schengen Rules allow for temporary controls to be reintroduced “as a last resort” and “in the event of a serious threat to public policy or internal security”, the prolonged “temporary” measure has brought into question the safety and integrity of the Schengen Area.
In response to Germany’s controls, Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that, “sadly”, Austria had to implement its own controls on the borders with Hungary and Slovenia, mentioning that the Schengen “system is dysfunctional”.
The snowball effect continued, with Denmark, Norway and Sweden implementing controls at all land borders, while, in Slovenia, checks are in place at the borders with Croatia and Hungary. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is also planning on implementing similar measures from the end of November.
Ironically now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, when travelling within Europe was almost completely brought to a standstill for safety reasons, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the “death of Schengen”, brought by closing borders, would endanger the “survival of the European Project”.
