THE EUROPEAN – SECURITY AND DEFENCE UNION
Allowing persons to travel without being subjected to checks is a most tangible achievement
The development of the Schengen area by Stefano Manservisi, Director General , DG Home Affaires, European Commission, Brussels
In 1985, five Member States met in Schengen, Luxembourg, to sign an agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders and in 1990, this was followed by the signing of the Convention implementing that agreement. With the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1999, the Schengen acquis was incorporated into the EU framework. Today, the Schengen area encompasses most of the EU Member States and four associated non-EU countries. The creation of the Schengen area, allowing persons to travel without being subjected to checks, is one of the most tangible and valued achievements of the EU. Some 420 million people are now residing in the area, moving freely across the internal borders, making some 1.25 billion journeys within the EU every year. Still, it should be kept in mind that the Schengen concept is built on Member States’ trust in each other’s capacity to apply the common rules and that continuous vigilance is needed to safeguard this great success.
A strengthened Schengen evaluation and monitoring mechanism In September 2011, the Commission adopted a communication and two legislative proposals aimed at strengthening the overall functioning and sustainability of the Schengen area. Currently, there is a Schengen evaluation mechanism in place to evaluate Member States’ implementation of the Schengen acquis. This was established during the early years, when the Schengen area encompassed only six Member States and their cooperation was completely inter-governmental. Such
Stefano Manservisi Stefano Manservisi is the first Director General for DG Home Affairs since its creation in July 2012. He was born in 1956. Stefano Manservisi holds a law degree from the University of Bologna and also studied at the University of Paris I Panthéon – Sorbonne, and the University of Strasbourg. Stefano Manservisi joined the European Commission in 1983 where he worked as administrator in the Directorates-General of Agriculture and Development until 1991, and then as principal administrator and Member of Cabinet to Vice-President Pandolfi. In 2001 he was appointed Head of Cabinet for Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission and stayed in that position until joining DG Development as Director General. Before holding his actual position at DG Home, he served as Director General for Development and Relations with Africa, Caribbean, Pacific States.
40
an approach, however, has progressively shown its limits and its inadequacy for an area of 26 participating countries, where the core of the matter now forms part of the framework of the EU acquis. Over time a need has therefore emerged to create a new mechanism, capable of identifying deficiencies at an early stage and ensuring the appropriate remedy and followup. The Commission’s proposed revised mechanism would serve this purpose, while at the same time granting more transparency. Still, there might be situations where the recommendations for remedial action are not sufficient to ensure that persistent serious deficiencies in a Member State’s control of its external borders are adequately, or sufficiently swiftly, remedied. The Commission proposals therefore allow for a decision, triggered by the Commission, to be taken at EU-level on the temporary reintroduction of controls at internal borders vis-àvis a Member State failing to manage its external borders. This is an exceptional measure of last resort in a truly critical situation to ensure that the problems can be resolved, while minimising the impact on free movement.
EU-based safeguards for reintroduction of controls at internal borders The implementation of the Schengen acquis requires safeguards which enable it to deal with exceptional or unforeseen situations. Member States are already today permitted to temporarily reintroduce control at some internal borders in order to deal with serious threats to public policy or internal security of the Member States in question. The Commission’s proposals aim to ensure that such decisions take into account the interests of the Union as a whole and the EU citizens, whose right to free movement cannot be limited. The abolition of controls at internal borders goes hand-inhand with accompanying measures, including a common visa policy, police and judicial cooperation, and common rules on the return of irregular migrants. In particular, Member States are obliged to ensure that their section of the external border of the Schengen area is effectively controlled, including the deployment of appropriate resources. Hence, safeguarding the area without control at internal borders is closely interlinked with measures strengthening the control of external border, like a stronger monitoring by the Commission (as explained above), the strengthening of Frontex’ mandate or the establishment of Eurosur.
