On Wednesday, the European Commission is presenting a new Strategy to make the largest free travel area in the world – the Schengen area – stronger and more resilient. The Schengen area is home to more than 420 million people across 26 countries. The removal of internal border controls between Schengen States is an integral part of the European way of life: almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen State and work in another. People have built their lives around the freedoms offered by the Schengen area, with 3.5 million people crossing between Schengen States every day.
The free flow of people, goods and services is at the heart of the European Union and is key for Europe’s recovery following the coronavirus crisis. With today’s Strategy, the Commission takes stock of the challenges faced by the Schengen area in recent years, and sets out a path forward that maintains the benefits of Schengen. Common action is needed at Union level for Member States to cope with today’s challenges.
Underpinning the well-functioning of the Schengen area are three pillars: effective management of the EU’s external borders, strengthening internal measures to compensate for the absence of internal border controls, in particular on police cooperation, security and migration management, and ensuring robust preparedness and governance, including the completion of Schengen. To foster mutual trust in the implementation of the Schengen rules, the Commission is also presenting today a proposal to revise the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism.
The Strategy aims to:
- Ensure effective management of the EU’s external borders, through the ongoing roll out of the European Border and Coast Guard standing corps; making information systems for border and migration management interoperable by 2023; and an upcoming proposal on making visa applications and travel documents digital.
- Reinforce the Schengen area internally, as close cooperation between Member States on preventing and fighting security threats is crucial to sustain and compensate for the absence of controls at internal borders.
- Improve preparedness and governance: The Commission is proposing today to revise the Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism (more below).
- Enlarge the Schengen area: Schengen’s future must be marked by the expansion to those EU Member States that are not yet part of the Schengen area.
Source: European Commission
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