Border checks expose Schengen loopholes

Date: 13/01/2000

By Simon Coss

THE European Commission is considering drafting rules to make it harder for countries which have signed the Schengen open-borders agreement to reintroduce identity checks at internal EU frontiers.

The move coincides with Belgium's announcement late last week that it was reintroducing border checks for three weeks during a nationwide amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country to apply for resident permits.

While experts agree that there is currently nothing to stop Belgium taking such action, officials working for Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino say the move has highlighted the need to close what they see as a number of 'loopholes' in the current Schengen rules.

The Commission was given the power to propose measures to tighten up the accord, which began life as an intergovernmental agreement between a small group of EU member states, when it became part of the main body of Union law under the terms of the Amsterdam Treaty last May.

The aim of the original agreement struck in 1985 was to end internal checks on borders between signatories. But the existing accord contains a 'get out' clause, allowing member countries to re-impose border checks "for a limited period" in cases where "public policy or national security so require".

The Commission is concerned that this wording is too vague and essentially gives Schengen states the possibility of reintroducing border controls whenever they feel like it. Officials argue that, at the very least, definite limits should be set on how long countries can re-impose checks for.

Supporters of this approach point to the case of France, which has maintained border checks with Belgium and Luxembourg almost since the day Schengen entered into force in March 1995. Paris has defended its action first by citing fears of terrorist attacks and then by claiming the checks were needed in order to prevent drugs being smuggled into France from the Netherlands. But critics say the French never really had any intention of easing controls on their northern borders.

Commission experts stress that they are currently only studying the possibility of tightening up the Schengen rules and that no draft proposals have been drawn up.

They also point out that any changes to the Schengen rules would have to be agreed unanimously by all EU governments and acknowledge that it is hard to see Paris agreeing to such moves.

France also ensured during the Amsterdam Treaty negotiations that the European Court of Justice would not have the right to question a Schengen state's reasons for reintroducing border checks. This means that even if the Commission did get agreement on changes to the present rules, it would have no means of ensuring they were respected.

The European Commission is considering drafting rules to make it harder for countries which have signed the Schengen open-borders agreement to reintroduce identity checks at internal EU frontiers. The move coincides with Belgium's recent announcement that it was reintroducing border checks for three weeks during a nationwide amnesty for illegal immigrants already in the country to apply for resident permits.