Schengen Information Centrum

Links To The Information Sources

Portal of the Public Administration of the CR, Foreigner Section:

http://portal.gov.cz/wps/portal/_s.155/19005

Foreigners in the CR:

http://www.cizinci.cz/

Informational Materials and Guides for Foreigners:

http://www.cizinci.cz/clanek.php?lg=1&id=346

Integrated Portal of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic:

http://portal.mpsv.cz/sprava/multilang

Webpages of the MoLSA (MPSV) on the integration of aliens:

http://www.mpsv.cz/en/

Czech Statistical Office, Foreigners in the CR:

http://www.czso.cz/csu/cizinci.nsf/kapitola/uvod

http://www.czso.cz/eng/redakce.nsf/i/home

Saturday, January 19, 2013

History Of The Schengen Agreement in Europe

Before 1914, it was possible to travel from Paris to Saint Petersburg without a passport. When the First World War came to an end, the practice of issuing passports and performing routine passport controls at national frontiers remained and became the norm in Europe until the implementation of the Schengen Area in 1985.

There were several exceptions. After the secession of the Irish Free State from the United Kingdom in 1922, both countries passed laws that treated the other country as part of its own territory for immigration purposes. This Common Travel Area still exists today, albeit in a much more limited fashion.

In 1944, the governments-in-exile of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (Benelux) signed an agreement to eliminate border controls between themselves; this agreement was put into force in 1948. Similarly, the Nordic Passport Union was created in 1952 to permit free travel amongst the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and some of their associated territories. Both of these areas have largely been subsumed within the Schengen Area.

The Schengen Agreement was signed on 14 June 1985 on the river-boat Princess Marie-Astrid in the middle of the river Moselle where the territories of France, Germany and Luxembourg meet. The original signatories were Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. As Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg formed the "border-less Benelux" (s.a.), the agreement was in a way signed at the border triangle of all original signatories.

It was created independently of the European Union, in part owing to the lack of consensus amongst EU members over whether or not the EU had the competence to abolish border controls, and in part because those ready to implement the idea did not wish to wait for others (back then there was no Enhanced co-operation mechanism).

The Agreement initially only provided for the replacement of passport checks with visual surveillance of private vehicles, which would be able to cross borders without stopping albeit at reduced speed.
European Union

In 1990, before the Schengen Agreement had been implemented, the same five states signed a Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement. It was this Convention that created the Schengen Area through the complete abolition of border controls between Schengen states, common rules on visas, and police and judicial cooperation.

The Schengen Agreement along with its implementing Convention was implemented in 1995 only for some signatories, but just over two years later during the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference, all European Union member states except the United Kingdom and Ireland, and two non-member states Norway and Iceland (part of the Nordic Passport Union along with EU members Denmark, Finland, and Sweden) had signed the Schengen Agreement.

It was during those negotiations, which led to Amsterdam Treaty, that the incorporation of the so-called Schengen-Acquis into the main body of European Union law was agreed along with opt-outs for Ireland and the United Kingdom, which were to remain outside of the Schengen Area.

Now that the Schengen Agreement is part of the acquis communautaire, the Agreement has, for its EU members, lost the status of a treaty, which could only be amended according to its terms; instead, its amendments are made according to that legislative procedure of the EU that covers the rules to be amended as defined in the EU treaties. Ratification by the former agreement signatory states is not required for altering or repealing some or all of the former Schengen-Acquis.

Legal acts setting out the conditions for entry into the Schengen Area are now enacted by majority vote in the legislative bodies of the European Union. New EU member states do not sign the Schengen Agreement as such; instead, they are bound to implement the Schengen rules as part of the pre-existing body of EU law, which every new entrant is required to accept.

This led to the result that the Schengen States that are not EU members have few formally binding options to influence the shaping and evolution of the Schengen rules; their options are effectively reduced to agreeing, or withdrawing from the agreement. Similarly to the European Economic Area practice, consultations with the affected countries are conducted informally, prior to the adoption of particular new legislation.

In 2006 the directive on the right to move freely (2004/38/EC) was implemented, meaning that passport free travel is allowed in the entire European Union, if having a national identity card from an EU country. For some a passport is necessary anyway, since not all countries issue such cards for their citizens, and because Sweden requires a passport when travelling from that country to EU countries outside Schengen.

Monday, March 12, 2012

A Brief Q&A on the Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement abolished internal borders, enabling passport-free movement between a large number of European countries.

Schengen is now under review because in 2011 there were surges in illegal migration from Africa and Asia, via Italy and Greece in particular.

Why is it called the Schengen Agreement?
This is the name of the town in Luxembourg, where it was signed in 1985.

Actually, the signing itself took place on a boat in the middle of the Moselle river, which forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany. The Convention applying the Schengen Agreement took another five years to negotiate and there was a further time-lag before the convention was implemented.

Is Schengen an EU initiative?
It began as an attempt to give practical meaning to the European Union's longstanding goal of ensuring "free movement of persons".

However, while all countries agreed that there should be no border checks on EU nationals, they could not agree whether non-EU nationals should enjoy the same privileges when travelling inside the EU.

As a result, the Schengen agreement was originally signed outside the auspices of the EU (by France, Germany and the Benelux countries).

It was incorporated into the framework of the EU as part of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997. That means the agreement can be modified under the EU's normal legislative process.

What is the Schengen Information System?
The SIS enables police forces across Europe to share data on law enforcement. It can cover stolen cars, court proceedings and missing persons. The enormous SIS database, in the French city of Strasbourg, is due to become even larger with the introduction of SIS II.

That would enable police to link information such as alerts involving a missing child and a stolen car. The UK says it will only sign up to SIS II once it is happy the system works alongside the Police National Computer.

Which countries have removed internal borders?
There are 25 countries in Schengen.

Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain implemented the agreement in 1995. They were followed by Italy and Austria in 1997, Greece in 2000, and Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland in 2001. (Norway and Iceland are not in the EU.)

Nine more EU countries joined in 2007, after the EU's eastward enlargement in 2004. They are: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Switzerland, which is not in the EU, implemented the agreement in December 2008.

Are other countries going to remove them too?
Andorra, Liechtenstein and San Marino are not part of Schengen, but they no longer have checks at their borders.

There is no date yet for Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004, or for Bulgaria and Romania, which joined in 2007.

According to the European Parliament, Bulgaria and Romania have brought their border security up to EU standards and are fit to join Schengen. But not all EU governments agree, and a decision on their bid to join has been postponed until later in 2012.

Which EU countries are not party to the Schengen agreement?
The UK and the Irish Republic have opted out. The UK wants to maintain its own borders, and Dublin prefers to preserve its free movement arrangement with the UK - called the Common Travel Area - rather than join Schengen.

The UK and Irish Republic began taking part in some aspects of the Schengen agreement, such as the Schengen Information System (SIS), from 2000 and 2002 respectively

What else, apart from removal of internal borders, does Schengen involve?
The main feature is the creation of a single external border, and a single set of rules for policing the border.

Among the other measures are:

Common rules on asylum;
Hot pursuit - police have the right to chase suspected criminals across borders;
Separation in airports of people travelling within the Schengen area from other passengers; Common list of countries whose nationals require visas; Creation of the Schengen Information System (SIS), which allows police stations and consulates to access a shared database of wanted or undesirable people and stolen objects; Joint efforts to fight drug-related crime.

In what circumstances can countries reimpose border controls?
Under article 2.2 of the treaty, signatories may reinstate border controls for a short period, if this is necessary for "public policy or national security" reasons.

The clause says "contracting parties [Schengen states] may, after consulting the other contracting parties, decide that for a limited period national border checks appropriate to the situation shall be carried out at internal borders".

They can do so if necessary immediately, and then inform the other Schengen members.

France did this around the 60th anniversary of D-Day in June 2004 and after the bomb attacks on London in 2005. Portugal and Germany have reimposed border controls for major sporting events, such as the Fifa World Cup.

What problems have arisen with Schengen?
The "Arab Spring" uprisings in North Africa in 2011 created tensions between France and Italy over Schengen.

In mid-April 2011 France shut its borders to trains carrying African migrants from Italy - a move that was legal under Schengen, according to the European Commission.

Earlier Italy had granted six-month residence permits to more than 20,000 of the migrants, most of them Tunisians, who had arrived on Italian soil since 1 January 2011.

Italy accused France of violating Schengen, and both countries called for the Schengen rules on internal border controls to be modified.
The European Commission is amending the rules to address this, focusing on:

Guidelines on matters such as the issuing of travel documents and residence permits, so that Schengen countries interpret the rules in the same way
An improved Schengen "evaluation mechanism", including fact-finding missions, to deal with deficiencies in a country's border controls before a crisis arises
A centralised EU-level mechanism to allow countries to reimpose border controls in exceptional circumstances, applying commonly agreed standards.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, campaigning for re-election, has warned that he is ready to suspend France's membership of Schengen if the EU fails to plug leaks on its external borders in 2012.

Greece's land border with Turkey became a particular problem in 2011.
The EU sent 175 Frontex border guards to help police the border in late 2010, and they will stay there in 2012.

Frontex, an agency set up to help control the EU's external borders, says more than 55,000 illegal migrants were detected in Greece's Evros border region in 2011. That was a 17% increase compared with 2010. It is the main entry point into the EU for migrants from Asia.

A further challenge to Schengen in 2011 came from Denmark, which announced that it would reinstate control booths on its borders, to do random checks of cars and passports. But the plan was later shelved by the Social Democrats, who replaced the centre-right coalition in September 2011.

The centre-right government in the Netherlands has installed video surveillance cameras on its borders with Belgium and Germany - and insists they are allowed under Schengen. The cameras, introduced in January 2012, are to help tackle organised crime, the government says.

How are non-EU citizens affected?
A Schengen visa is necessary to travel to a Schengen country or within the area.
The price of a short-stay visa is 60 euros (£53) and for some Europeans that means a substantial extra cost. Belarusians had been used to paying only five euros for a trip to neighbouring Lithuania.

The visa costs 35 euros for Russians, Ukrainians and citizens of non-EU Balkan states, under visa facilitation agreements.
The EU has lifted the short-stay visa requirement for citizens of Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia who have biometric passports. These Balkan nations all hope to join the EU. Kosovo is excluded from the arrangement. Citizens of Croatia, set to join the EU in mid-2013, can travel to nearby Italy, Hungary and Slovenia with just an ID card but still need passports to enter other Schengen states.

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Sources and References valid prior to 12 March 2012