Chapter 24

The Schengen Area

In the mid-1980s disagreement emerged among the member states on how to put into practice the principle of 'free movement of persons'. Some argued that this should only apply to EC nationals; others were in favour of free movement for all. A solution was found on 14 June 1985 when five EC member states – France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – signed the Schengen Agreement to create the so-called 'Schengen area', a territory without internal borders. To implement the agreement, a further Schengen Convention was signed on 19 June 1990. It took another five years before the convention came into effect in 1995. The Schengen area abolished the internal borders of the signatory states and created a single external border where immigration checks are carried out in accordance with the same rules. At the same time, the Schengen Information System (SIS) was put in place to exchange data among the participating countries on individual identities and objects which are stolen or lost.

The potential benefits of the Schengen area gradually attracted other countries to take part. Italy signed the Schengen Convention in 1990; Portugal, Spain and Greece became members in 1992; Austria became a signatory state in 1995; Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden joined in 1996. As a result, by 1997 the Schengen area had expanded to include 13 EU member states plus Norway and Iceland. Meanwhile, Britain and Ireland choose to stay outside the Schengen area.

The Treaty of Amsterdam formally incorporated the Schengen rules into EU law on 1 May 1999 (when the Treaty came into effect), thereby recognising differentiated integration in the area. The Schengen acquis includes the Schengen Agreement, the Schengen Convention, the accession protocols with Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and the decisions and declarations adopted by the Schengen bodies. Because of their legal status, the member states that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 are automatically bound by the Schegen acquis. It is also worth mentioning that Switzerland – a third non-EU country – decided to join the Schengen area in June 2005.

Web Links

Articles on 'Enhanced Cooperation' in the Constitutional Treaty
gandalf.aksis.uib.no/~brit/EXPORT-EU-Constitution/EU-Constitution-CIG-87-2-04/CHAPTERIII-ENHANCEDCOOPERATION.html

'One Europe or Several?', an ESRC research programme
www.one-europe.ac.uk/

Wikipedia on the Schengen Treaty
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_treaty

Further Learning Resources

Jaeger, Thomas (2002), 'Enhanced Cooperation in the Treaty of Nice and Flexibility in the Common Foreign and Security Policy', European Foreign Policy Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 297-316.

Stubb, Alexander (2002), Negotiating Flexibility in the European Union: Amsterdam, Nice and Beyond, Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Warleigh, Alex (2002), Flexible Integration: Which Model for the European Union?, London: Sheffield Academic Press.

Oxford University Press, Online Resource Centre, Chapter 24.

Chapter 24

The Schengen Area