Fulfilling hopes and rights of European citizens

Two MEPs discuss Schengen expansion.

Libor Roucek

On Friday 21 December passport controls on the internal borders of nine new European Union member states were abolished. Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and other central Europeans, like the French, Dutch or Germans before them, now have the possibility to travel the major part of our European continent freely.

Twenty years ago no one could have imagined such a thing. Despite the perestroika reform process, which started in 1985 when Mikhail Gorbachev took power in the Kremlin, almost everybody perceived the Iron Curtain as immovable. The western borders of Czechoslovakia and East Germany were areas of no access. And for the Czechs and East Germans living in the border regions, it meant a life ‘at the end of the world’. The Schengen enlargement of 21 December 2007 - for those generations who were born in the Iron Curtain era and for those who have grown up behind it - represents the fulfilment of an old dream of free travel, an old dream of a free and united Europe.

For me, personally, 21 December was a very emotional day. In 1977 I left the communist Czechoslovakia and went into exile in Austria, where I spent some seven years working in different positions and studying at the University of Vienna. Later, while working on my dissertation, I settled down in a little village near the Czechoslovak border. This gave me the opportunity to look across the border every day into my country, which was then unfree and locked up by the Iron Curtain. I feel a great joy and satisfaction now having seen the very last remnants of the Iron Curtain disappear.

There is a very simple reason why the dream could only come true now rather than on the day of EU accession. Member states three years ago, the old as well as the new, were not yet ready for such an important step. Our external borders were not yet sufficiently secure and our police data systems were not yet adequately prepared. And some countries lacked the necessary political will. This is to say, the abolition of border controls goes hand in hand with the question of full security of our external borders. It is in no one’s interest to see an increase in organised crime, illegal immigration, drug smuggling or people trafficking. The Schengen enlargement must not take place at the expense of security of European citizens. That is why some new member states, in particular Romania and Bulgaria, still cannot enter into the Schengen zone, although I hope that they will join the Schengen family as soon as possible.

There are two important issues I would like to mention. The first is the question of the possible impact on the relations with our direct neighbours in eastern and south-eastern Europe. There are some fears in EU border regions that the Schengen enlargement could influence negatively the cross-border co-operation, mainly with Ukraine. I warmly welcome the simplified visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Ukraine which was signed in June 2007 and went into effect at the beginning of 2008 and which certainly helps to ease travel and, importantly, to facilitate the establishment of people-to-people contacts. But I think that the EU should further acknowledge the recent development in Kiev, where a pro-Western and pro-European government coalition has been created by focusing on the possibility of a further simplified visa procedure for the citizens of Ukraine. I also think that a similar approach should be taken toward Russia, Moldova and countries in the western Balkans with which the EU has agreed to such visa facilitations as well.

Second, it was Portugal, the holder of the EU presidency in the latter half of 2007, which proposed the extension of the current Schengen Information System (SIS) to the new member states. It was this very proposal which finally made the Schengen enlargement of 21 December 2007 possible since otherwise the process would have faced serious problems and substantial delays as the second generation of the SIS could only have been introduced two years from now. Thus our Portuguese friends deserve our acknowledgment and appreciation.

• Czech Socialist MEP Libor Roucek is vice-chairman of the Parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

Carlos Coelho

Schengen enlargement was a political priority. In order to make it happen in the fastest and most secure way possible, the European Parliament worked to a strict deadline and quickly approved conclusions on the final Schengen evaluation reports.

EU member states agreed on 8 November in the Council of Ministers to approve the expansion of Schengen land borders based on the evaluation reports, with the Parliament similarly agreeing to the lifting of internal borders on 11 November. EU ministers gave a final approval for internal land borders to be lifted on 21 December.

Taking into account the results of the evaluations and the necessary revisits that were carried out by the expert teams, all nine of these new member states have proved that they were sufficiently prepared to apply all the provisions of the Schengen acquis in a satisfactory manner.

As the Parliament’s rapporteur, I decided to support the decision to open up the borders for those member states. There were still some outstanding issues, which were not considered a real obstacle to full Schengen membership, but nonetheless should remain in focus.

For that reason the Parliament demanded to be informed about how these outstanding issues are being followed up and about recommendations and necessary changes that still have to be made.

The Schengen enlargement is one of the basic freedoms of EU membership: to be able to circulate freely in this area. But it also answers the legitimate expectations of the citizens of those member states, which involves being able to enjoy the same rights as the citizens of the other member states.

The Schengen agreement may have started as an understanding between the Benelux countries, France and Germany in 1985 to allow for the gradual dismantling of borders, but since it was incorporated into the acquis of the EU it has come to symbolise what it means to be part of this Union. The EU’s internal market laws for decades may have made it easier for companies to trade and do business across borders but the fact that hundreds of millions of citizens can travel unhindered from one end of the EU to the other is significant in concrete terms for tourists, business people, students and EU citizens living or working near a border or in EU states other than their own.

In order to maintain a uniform level of security it is imperative that member states strictly and efficiently respect the necessary security requirements. In this enlarged Schengen area the reinforcement of security requirements has become even more important and urgent. This can only be achieved if the next generation of the technical network, the Schengen Information System II (SIS II) starts operating.

The creation of the SIS II still remains a priority for the Parliament, because it will allow an increase in the level of security and a more efficient use of data and will introduce new types of data such as biometrics (facial images and fingerprints) and new functionalities: for instance interlinking of alerts (eg, it will be possible to link the name of a person wanted for paedophilia or terrorism, with the plate of a stolen car).

The European Commission has given a commitment to have SIS II up and running by the end of this year, thereby allowing future Schengen expansions, including to Cyprus, in a more secure way.

In that sense, the Parliament expects to be directly involved in any developments on this area and will try to launch any initiatives that may seem to be necessary.

• Portuguese centre-right (EPP-ED) MEP Carlos Coelho is a member of the Parliament’s civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee and was rapporteur on the expansion of the Schengen zone.

Two MEPs discuss Schengen expansion.