1.1 According to lecture notes advanced Comparative Law 1 – Law and governance of European migration and international
The Agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders of the Benelux, the Federal Republic of Germany and France was signed on 14 June 1985 when the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement was adopted June 19, 1990. The purpose of the Schengen Agreement remains the freedom to cross internal borders for all nationals of Member States as well as the free movement of goods, services, goods, capital and persons. This transition between states that require the Schengen visa has been motivated by economic reasons.
1.2 According to the Glossary on Migration
“Agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders (1985) and its Implementing Convention (1990). Agreements between certain Member States of the European Community, on the sidelines of the EU framework, the Schengen Agreement have been gradually extended to all Member States were then integrated into the EU by the Amsterdam Treaty ( 1997). The Schengen agreements are intended to achieve the free movement of persons between the Parties. To this end, the internal border controls are moved to the external borders, a single visa is established, a common policy in the fight against illegal immigration is organized. The Schengen Agreement also contains provisions relating to the examination of asylum applications. These provisions have been replaced by the Dublin Convention (1990) and by the European Regulation “Dublin II” (2003). “
Richard Perruchoud, Glossary on Migration, No. 9, Geneva, Publications International Organization for Migration, 2007, online: http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=113 (accessed February 28, 2012)
“Schengen: a 1985 agreement to create a border-free European Community. It was originally outside the EC, but was incorporated into the EU in 1997 when the Amsterdam Treaty was signed.”
Cini, Michelle, European Union Politics, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007, 464.
It was called the Schengen Agreement because the treaty was signed in Schengen, Luxemburg.
French translation: Accords Schengen
Used in a sentence:
“[President Sarkozy] said he intended to seek to be revisited in the Schengen agreements in order to” impose a common discipline “in border control and restrict migration flows to member countries of the European Union. “
Marc Thibodeau, “Sarkozy Moves Out”, Cyberpresse, March 11, 2012, online: (Accessed March 13, 2012)
Article 17 of the 1985 Schengen Agreement provides:
“In regard to the movement of persons, the Parties shall endeavour to abolish the controls at the common frontiers and transfer them to their external frontiers. To that end, they shall endeavour to harmonise in advance, where necessary, the laws and administrative provisions concerning the prohibitions and restrictions which form the basis for the controls and to take complementary measures to safeguard security and combat illegal immigration by nationals of States that are not members of the European Communities.”
“The Schengen area and cooperation are founded on the Schengen Agreement of 1985. The Schengen area represents a territory where the free movement of persons is guaranteed. The signatory states to the agreement have abolished all internal borders in lieu of a single external border. Here common rules and procedures are applied with regard to visas for short stays, asylum requests and border controls. Simultaneously, to guarantee security within the Schengen area, cooperation and coordination between police services and judicial authorities have been stepped up. Schengen cooperation has been incorporated into the European Union (EU) legal framework by the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997. However, all countries cooperating in Schengen are not parties to the Schengen area. This is either because they do not wish to eliminate border controls or because they do not yet fulfil the required conditions for the application of the Schengen acquis.”
Europa, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/free_movement_of_persons_asylum_immigration/l33020_en.htm (Accessed on April 27, 2012).
“The Treaty of Amsterdam provides for the integration of the Schengen Agreement into the framework of the European Union. For this purpose the Schengen acquis shall be split up between the first pillar, namely Title IV TEC, and the third, i.e. Title VI TEU. The said incorporation of the Schengen Agreement has prompted another flexible arrangement. Ireland and the United Kingdom are non-signatories to the Schengen Agreement. However, under certain circumstances these two states may participate not only in the provisions of the Schengen acquis, but also in the adoption of measures to built upon this acquis. In addition Denmark, although party to the Schengen Agreement, will enjoy specific rights with regard to those Schengen matters which have a legal basis in Title IV TEC.”
Griller, Stefan, The Treaty of Amsterdam: Facts, Analysis, Prospects, Birkhäuser, 2000, 271-272.
Key points, from Cini, Michelle, European Union Politics, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007, 307.
- “The 1985 Schengen Agreement was a commitment by a subset of EC member states to remove controls at their internal borders
- Steps were taken by the Schengen members to agree common rules on their external borders with regard to visa policy, for example.
- For those countries involved, Schengen allowed national civil servants in these fields to become accustomed to European-level cooperation.”
Current Schengen Countries are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland*, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway*, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland*.
*These countries are not members of the European Union.
The Schengen Office, Schengen Visa, www.theschengenoffice.com/explained/schengen_visa.html (accessed on 5 May, 2012).
BBC News, Q&A: Schengen Agreement, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13194723 (accessed on April 30, 2012).
Europa.eu, Factsheet: What is Schengen?, http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/608&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en (accessed on April 30, 2012).
Europa.eu, How the EU works, http://europa.eu/about-eu/index_en.htm (accessed on April 30, 2012).
Europa.eu, The Schengen area and cooperation, http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/free_movement_of_persons_asylum_immigration/l33020_en.htm (accessed on April 30, 2012).
Agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders of the Benelux, the Federal Republic of Germany and France, June 14, 1985, online: www.cvce.eu/viewer/-/content/ 7543db22-53d1-428b-8b21-ad0a3fb59ed6/fr (accessed 13 March 2012)
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, June 19, 1990, online: www.cvce.eu/viewer/-/content/34df2451-3af1-48d1-bd61-132209a4e8e1/fr (accessed March 13, 2012)
Visa-Schengen.info, “Europe of Schengen”, online: www.visa-schengen.info/espace-schengen.html (accessed March 13, 2012)
Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union
Council, The Schengen Acquis as referred to in Article 1(2) of Council Decision 1999/435/EC of 20 May 1999, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:239:0001:0473:EN:PDF (accessed on 2 May, 2012).
Apap, Joanna, Carrera, Sergio and Kemal Kirişci, “Turkey in the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice”, Centre for European Policy Studies, EU-Turkey Working Papers, No.3, August 2004, available from: http://edoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/HALCoRe_derivate_00005836/Turkey_European_Area.pdf;jsessionid=F379150E91BCF56EB46E670B6EFDF4AE (accessed on April 30, 2012).
Council Regulation (EC) no. 2007/2004 of 26 October 2004 establishing a European Agency for the Management of Operational Coordination at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX)
Regulation (EC) No. 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006 establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code)
Brouwer, Evelien Renate, Digital Borders and Real Rights: Effective Remedies for Third-Country Nationals in the Schengen Information System, BRILL, 2008
Cini, Michelle, European Union Politics, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007, 306-307 (The Schengen experiment).
Agreement on the gradual abolition of checks at common borders of the Benelux, the Federal Republic of Germany and France, June 14, 1985, online: www.cvce.eu/viewer/-/content/ 7543db22-53d1-428b-8b21-ad0a3fb59ed6/fr (accessed 13 March 2012)
Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, June 19, 1990, online: www.cvce.eu/viewer/-/content/34df2451-3af1-48d1-bd61-132209a4e8e1/fr (accessed March 13, 2012)
Marc Thibodeau, “Sarkozy Moves Out”, Cyberpresse, March 11, 2012, online: (Accessed March 13, 2012)
Richard Perruchoud, Glossary on Migration, No. 9, Geneva, Publications International Organization for Migration, 2007, online: http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=113 (accessed February 28, 2012)
Visa-Schengen.info, “Europe of Schengen”, online: www.visa-schengen.info/espace-schengen.html (accessed March 13, 2012)
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy , Application no. 27765/09, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 23 February 2012