EN
Schengen
Your gateway
to free movement
in Europe
SEPTEMBER 2013
Table of contents
INTRODUCTION1
FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS
2
POLICE AND CUSTOMS COOPERATION
2
— Internal borders
2
— External borders
3
— SIS (Schengen Information System)
4
JUDICIAL COOPERATION
5
VISAS6
ASYLUM7
SCHENGEN MAP
This brochure is produced by the General Secretariat of the Council; it is for information purposes only.
For any information on the Council, you can consult the website: www.consilium.europa.eu
© European Union, 2013
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
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Schengen, a village in southern Luxembourg
on the river Moselle, has become a synonym for
the abolition of internal border controls and for
free movement in Europe. The evolution of the
Schengen area was a gradual one:
*
It was born on 14 June 1985 when five countries
(Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the
Netherlands) signed the Schengen Agreement.
*
Five years later, the Schengen Convention set out
how the abolition of checks at internal borders would
be applied in practice. It also established a series of
necessary compensatory measures to strengthen
external border checks, define procedures for issuing
uniform visas, take action against drug trafficking and establish a common system for information
sharing – the Schengen Information System (SIS).
*
The actual abolition of border controls started on 26 March 1995, when seven countries (the initial five
plus Portugal and Spain) abolished checks at their internal borders.
*
Since then, the Schengen area has been steadily expanded and now comprises Belgium, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg,
Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and four
countries which are not members of the EU: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
*
In the future, with the full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area, it will encompass
28 European countries.
*
Four other EU-Member States are not part of the Schengen area, although they participate in some of
the Schengen rules: Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Each Schengen country is regularly evaluated to make sure that the rules agreed upon are applied correctly by
everyone.
The abolition of internal border controls has consequences for other policy areas such as how to deal with
cross-border crime, cross-border travel, cross-border trade and cross-border justice. Therefore, the rules on the
Schengen area not only concern the free movement of persons, but also visas, asylum and police, customs and
judicial cooperation.
© EU
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1
FREE MOVEMENT OF PERSONS
* Free movement in the Schengen area is a right, not only for over half
a billion European citizens, but also for all third-country nationals
who are legally present in the Schengen area. Foreign citizens
residing in the area enjoy this right, without needing visas, as long
as their residence permit is valid. Foreign citizens travelling inside
the Schengen area can do so freely for periods not exceeding 90
days within a six-month period.
* Free movement means: no queuing at airports, sea- or land borders,
and no more internal border checks. Control infrastructures such
as booths for border guards and other physical barriers have been
a
i
tol
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removed.
* However, every participating country has the right to perform checks on
persons and customs checks anywhere inside its national territory, as part of
the everyday work of the police, customs and immigration control. Examples
range from road traffic checks to the fight against organised crime.
POLICE AND CUSTOMS COOPERATION
Internal borders
*
*
*
2
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Neighbouring countries cooperate closely and are entitled to perform joint
operations and controls on both sides of their common border. Examples
include controlled drug deliveries as well as joint police patrols.
Law enforcement officials may also carry out cross border surveillance and
pursuit into the territory of neighbouring Member States, for example when
a suspected criminal is trying to escape the police of one country by crossing
the border into a neighbouring country.
In the event of a serious threat to public order or internal security, a Member
State may exceptionally reintroduce border controls at all or some of its
internal borders for a limited period not exceeding
30 days. Examples include major sports events that may give rise
to a security risk.
© Frontex
External borders
*
*
*
*
*
The external border of the Schengen area is over 50 000 km long (about 80 % sea and
20 % land) and includes hundreds of airports and maritime ports, as well as land border
crossing points.
Each Schengen State is responsible for controlling its external borders. The standards and
level of control are the same at all external border crossing points in the Schengen area
irrespective of their location. The common rules are established in the “Schengen Borders
Code”.
A European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External
Borders (Frontex1) was created and started work in 2005. Its main role is to complement
the national border management systems of the Member States participating in the
Schengen area by promoting the integrated management of the external borders and
coordinating operational cooperation at EU level. The objective is to strengthen security at
the external border of the Schengen area.
Border guards of one country can be seconded to another country
in order to participate in joint operations and provide support to
Member States experiencing particular pressures.
In accordance with the EU rules on local border traffic at the
external borders, a number of Schengen States have concluded
bilateral arrangements with neighbouring third countries,
involving a local border traffic permit, to facilitate local border
traffic, trade, social and cultural interchange and regional
cooperation.
1www.frontex.europa.eu
© ORIS-MULTIMEDIA DPTO AUDIOVISUALES
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SIS (Schengen Information System)
*
*
One of the most important compensatory measures for the abolition
of the internal border checks is the SIS2. The SIS is a common database
for the border and migration authorities, as well as law enforcement
authorities, of the participating countries. It can be accessed by
authorities at the borders, inside national territory and abroad in
consulates. Specific stringent data protection rules apply to the SIS.
The SIS, as of April 2013, contained more than 47 million entries
concerning:
persons (more than 1 million)
êê
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and
© Fotolia
not allowed to enter and stay in the Schengen area (74 %);
to be arrested (European Arrest Warrant) (4 %);
who are missing (6 %);
summoned to appear before a judicial authority (11 %);
for discreet checks or specific checks (5 %);
lost or stolen objects (almost 46 million), for seizure or use as evidence
in criminal proceedings:
êê
*
blank or issued documents (87 %), e.g. passports, identity cards,
driving licences, residence permits, travel documents, vehicle
documents;
êê
vehicles and number plates (11 %);
êê
firearms (1 %) and
êê
banknotes (less than 1 %).
There were more than 116 000 “hits” in 2012: around
83 000 persons and 33 000 objects were detected, including more than
16 000 stolen vehicles. This means that more than 310 hits occur every
day (including an average of 44 stolen vehicles a day).
© ORIS-MULTIMEDIA DPTO AUDIOVISUALES
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2www.sirene.europa.eu
© Europol
© EU
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JUDICIAL COOPERATION
*
Schengen countries apply some specific rules to facilitate
the procedures regarding mutual judicial cooperation. This
includes the principle ne bis in idem, so that a person may
not be prosecuted and punished twice for the same acts in
different countries of the Schengen area. Most of the original
Schengen provisions on police and judicial cooperation have
in the meantime been integrated in EU acts applicable to all EU
Member States.
© EU
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VISAS
*
*
*
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*
*
A common Schengen visa is issued to foreign citizens who visit the
Schengen area and who are subject to a visa requirement under Regulation
(EU) No 539/2001. It grants free movement throughout the Schengen
territory during its period of validity. This period cannot exceed 90 days.
Stays longer than 90 days as well as residence in the Schengen countries are
governed by national legislation.
More than 14 million Schengen visas were issued worldwide in 2012.
The number of long-term visas (for stays longer than 90 days) issued by
Schengen countries was, by comparison, just over 1 million.
Schengen States cooperate in order to make it easier for applicants to apply
for Schengen visas in their own countries or regions.
All the consulates of the Schengen countries in the world apply the same
rules for issuing a visa.
The VIS (Visa Information System), connecting Member States and external
border crossing points to a common database, became operational in
October 2011 and is gradually being rolled out to cover all the regions
of the world. The system facilitates the processing of visa applications at
consulates of Schengen States around the world and contributes to making
external border controls more efficient.
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© ORIS-MULTIMEDIA DPTO AUDIOVISUALES
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ASYLUM
*
*
*
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In 2012 all 27 EU Member States combined, together with Norway and
Switzerland, issued around 287 900 decisions at first instance on asylum
applications. About a quarter of these decisions were positive, and three
quarters were rejected.
A mechanism has been established (the Dublin Regulation) to determine
the State responsible for the treatment of an asylum application in order
to prevent multiple asylum applications being submitted by the same
person in different Schengen countries, and to avoid that risk of none of
these countries dealing with such applications. To this end, a database to
exchange fingerprints was created (Eurodac).
The European Parliament pursue their work with the aim of establishing a
Common European Asylum System (CEAS).
This involves updating existing EU legal instruments in the field of asylum,
with a view to obtaining a higher degree of harmonisation and to enhance
solidarity among Member States. It also involves strengthening pracitical
cooperation through the European Asylum Support Office, established in
2010.
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EU MEMBER STATES PARTICIPATING IN THE SCHENGEN AREA*
1995: Belgium – France – Germany – Luxembourg – Netherlands – Portugal – Spain
1997: Austria – Italy
2000: Greece
2001: Denmark – Finland – Sweden
2007: Czech Republic – Estonia – Hungary – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Poland – Slovakia – Slovenia
NON-EU MEMBER STATES PARTICIPATING IN THE SCHENGEN AREA*
2001: Iceland – Norway
2008: Switzerland
2011: Liechstenstein
EU MEMBER STATES IN THE PROCESS OF JOINING THE SCHENGEN AREA*
Bulgaria – Romania
EU MEMBER STATES NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE SCHENGEN AREA*
Croatia – Cyprus – Ireland – United Kingdom
* September 2013
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LI
LI: Liechtenstein
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doi:10.2860/58918