EU poised to expand passport-free zone

European Union Interior Ministers gave the green light to plans to open Europe’s passport-free travel area across nine further Member States on the 8 November 2007 (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic).

The Mixed Committee assessed the state of preparedness of the new Member States to implement the Schengen acquis, with a view to the lifting of internal borders in December 2007 (land and sea borders) and in March 2008 (air borders).

The latest evaluation visits, which took place in 2007 demonstrated that the nine Member States concerned are sufficiently prepared to apply the Schengen acquis in a satisfactory manner.

Council of the European Union: Press Release: PRES/07/253: Justice and Home Affairs Council, Brussels, 8-9 November 2007 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/jha/97023.pdf

Council of the European Union: Factsheet: Enlargement of the Schengen Area, November 2007 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/jha/97021.pdf

Deutsche Welle, 8.11.07: EU Ministers Open Up Nine New Countries to Visa-Free Travel http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2881676,00.html

Deutsche Welle, 9.11.07: Opinion: Visa-Free Travel Creates More Fences for EU http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2882675,00.html

BBC News, 9.11.07: EU's border-free zone to expand http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7086985.stm

European Parliament: Info, 15.11.07: MEPs congratulate nine new Member States for joining the Schengen area http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/024-13063-316-11-46-902-20071114IPR13062-12-11-2007-2007-true/default_en.htm

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