European Commission (The EC) presented its project for Schengen reform yesterday for free movement, designed to limit controls at internal borders in order to preserve the single market, while responding in part to Member States’ concerns about migration movements.
“Like all successes, Schengen needs to be strengthened to meet the many challenges“, insisted EC Vice President Margaritis Schinas, presenting the proposal.
EC with a new Schengen strategy – expanding and strengthening security
At some point, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Cyprus should join
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Although Schengen is generally an area of free movement without internal border control between 26 countries (22 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), several have recovered from random identity checks in recent years following the 2015 migration crisis and the terrorist threat. More recently, traffic restrictions imposed by member states to combat COVID-19 have further fragmented this area.
The EC proposal opens the possibility Member State to arrest a migrant in an irregular situation in a border area and transfer him to the neighboring Member State through which he arrived, instead of having to send him back to his country of origin as at present. But at two conditions: that the migrant was captured as part of a police operation carried out jointly by both parties, or that there is a readmission agreement between these two countries, which the Commission is now promoting.
By allowing this procedure in these border areas, the EC wants to avoid, as far as possible, border checks that disrupt the proper functioning of the internal market and the free movement of people and goods.
