Living up to a border-free commitment

Date: 08/02/1996

NO one should be surprised that the controversy over the EU's failure to live up to its pledge to create a truly border-free Europe is surfacing once again.

The 1987 Single European Act contained a firm commitment to the free movement of people, goods, capital and services from 1 January 1993. But three years after the internal market was ostensibly completed, promises that the EU's 370 million citizens would be able to move freely between all 15 member states without having to show their passports remain unfulfilled.

While passengers travelling between countries within the Schengen zone (with the notable exception of France) can now do so unimpeded, new moves by Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti to abolish controls at all of the EU's internal borders appear doomed.

The British government is maintaining its firm opposition to scrapping checks on travellers arriving on UK shores and seems certain to wield its veto to block the proposal.

It is now being suggested that even if the UK can be persuaded to fall into line, which seems highly unlikely, passport checks at all the Union's internal borders will not be abolished before the year 2000 at the earliest.

This prediction is based on the fact that five years of wrangling over complementary conventions on the handling of visa applications, asylum requests and information exchange have failed to produce agreement.

While there are strong arguments for insisting these issues must be resolved before the final barriers to a truly border-free Europe come down, ordinary members of the public will find it hard to understand why it is taking so long for EU governments to settle their differences.

Those countries which have now implemented the Schengen agreement in full have demonstrated that it is possible to overcome the teething troubles which inevitably accompany such a move if governments have the political will to do so.

An equal effort is now needed to speed up negotiations on the conventions which could unlock the door to genuine free movement between all EU countries. It is time for those who claim to support this goal to demonstrate their commitment to its achievement by showing greater flexibility in those negotiations. For a credible challenge to the UK's insistence on maintaining its border controls will only be possible once these issues have been resolved.

Many British people share their government's concern about the possible risks associated with abandoning passport checks on travellers coming from other EU countries. Without agreement on key issues such as visas and asylum application - and an effective system for exchanging information about suspected criminals - their fears are unlikely to be assuaged.