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SCHENGEN Your gateway to free movement in Notice

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018

Previous edition: 2015

Print ISBN 978-92-824-6266-9 doi:10.2860/62582 QC-QC-07-17-127-EN-C PDF ISBN 978-92-824-6286-7 doi:10.2860/290668 QC-QC-07-17-127-EN-N

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© Photos: Fotolia.com, Frontex For use or reproduction of photos or other material that is not under the EU , permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder. SCHENGEN Your gateway to free movement in Europe Introduction and customs cooperation Right to move withoutcontrols freely at theinternal Schengen Asylum Visas Judicial cooperation - Schengen Information System (SIS) borders - External - Internal borders TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... 10 5 3 9 8 8 6 6 5 5

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Schengen, a village in southern on the river , located where the territories of the initial contracting parties of the (, and the States) meet, has become a synonym for the abolition of internal controls and for free movement in Europe. The evolution of the has been a gradual one:

• It was born on 14 June 1985 when five countries (, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the ) signed the Schengen Agreement. • Five years later, the Schengen Convention set out how the abolition of checks at internal borders would be applied in practice. It also established a series of neces- sary compensatory measures to strengthen external border checks, define proce- dures for issuing uniform visas, take action against drug trafficking and establish a common system for information sharing – the Schengen Information System (SIS). • The actual abolition of border controls started on 26 1995, when seven countries (the initial five plus and ) abolished checks at their internal borders.

March 2018 | EN | SCHENGEN 3 • Since then, the area without internal border controls has been steadily expanding, and it now comprises 22 EU Member States – Belgium, , , Germany, , , Spain, France, , , , Luxembourg, , , Netherlands, , , Portugal, , , and – and four countries which are not members of the EU – , , and . • In the future, with the lifting of the remaining internal border controls with , and , the area without internal border controls will en- compass 29 European countries. • Due to their specific situations, , and the do not apply the Schengen rules in full.

Each Schengen country is regularly evaluated by the EU to make sure that the rules agreed upon are applied correctly by everyone. m o .co ia lia oto ot F – F –F n man ma Pit ob © R

The abolition of internal border controls has consequences for other policy areas, such as how to deal with cross-border crime, cross-border travel, cross-border and cross-border justice. Therefore, the rules on the Schengen area not only concern the abolition of internal border controls, but also visas, asylum 1 and police, customs and judicial cooperation.

1 Whilst asylum was initially covered by the Schengen Convention, formally it is no longer considered part of the .

4 SCHENGEN | EN | March 2018 RIGHT TO MOVE FREELY WITHOUT CONTROLS AT THE INTERNAL BORDERS

• The right to move freely in the Schengen area is a right not only for over half a billion European citizens but also for all third-country nationals who are legally present in the Schengen area. Foreign citizens residing in the area enjoy this right, without needing visas, as long as their residence permit is valid. Foreign citizens travelling inside the Schengen area can also move freely for periods not exceed- ing 90 days within a 180-day period. • The right to move freely means: no queuing at airports, sea- or land borders, and no internal border checks. Control infrastructure such as booths for border guards and other physical barriers have been removed. • However, every participating country has the right to perform checks on persons and customs checks anywhere inside its national territory, as part of the everyday work of the police, customs and immigration control. Examples range from traffic checks to the fight against organised crime. • Under exceptional circumstances, in case of a serious threat to public policy or internal security, checks at the internal borders be reintroduced for a limited period of time.

POLICE AND CUSTOMS COOPERATION

INTERNAL BORDERS

• Neighbouring countries cooperate closely and are entitled to perform joint op- erations and controls on both sides of their common border. Examples include controlled drug deliveries as well as joint police patrols. • Law enforcement officials may also carry out cross-border surveillance and pursuit into the territory of neighbouring Member States, for example when a suspected criminal is trying to escape the police of one country by crossing the border into a neighbouring country. • In the event of a serious threat to public order or internal security, a Member State may exceptionally reintroduce border controls at all or some of its internal borders for a very limited period, in principle not exceeding 30 days. Examples include ma- jor sports events that may give rise to a threat to public policy or internal security.

March 2018 | EN | SCHENGEN 5 EXTERNAL BORDERS

• The external border of the Schengen area is over 50 000 km long (about 80 % sea and 20 % land) and includes hundreds of airports and maritime ports, as well as land border crossing points. • Each Schengen State is responsible for controlling its external borders. The stand- ards and level of control are the same at all external border crossing points in the Schengen area irrespective of their location. The common rules are established in the “Schengen Borders Code”. • Created in 2005, the main role of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex 2) was to complement the national border management systems of the Member States participating in the Schengen area by promoting the integrated management of all types of ex- ternal borders and coordinating operational cooperation at EU level. In 2016, the mandate of Frontex (now called “the European Border and Agency”) was broadened in order to address migratory challenges and potential future threats at the EU’s external borders more efficiently. • Border guards of one country can be seconded to another country in order to par- ticipate in joint operations and provide support to Member States experiencing particular pressures. • In accordance with the EU rules on local border traffic at the external borders, a number of Schengen States have concluded bilateral arrangements with neigh- bouring third countries, involving a local border traffic permit, to facilitate local border traffic, trade, social and cultural interchange and regional cooperation. SCHENGEN INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIS)

• One of the most important compensatory measures for the abolition of internal border checks is the SIS. The SIS is a common database for the border and migra- tion authorities, as well as law enforcement authorities, of the participating coun- tries. It can be accessed by authorities at the borders, inside national territory and abroad in consulates, as well as by and . Specific stringent data protection rules apply to the SIS. • As of 2017, the SIS contained more than 70 million alerts concerning: persons (more than 800,000) - not allowed to enter and stay in the Schengen area (58 %); - to be arrested () (4 %); - who are missing (12 %); - summoned to appear before a judicial authority (14 %); - for discreet checks or specific checks (12 %);

2 www.frontex.europa.eu

6 SCHENGEN | EN | March 2018 tex tex on ron ron © F © F ©F

and lost or stolen objects (around 69 million), for seizure or use as evidence in criminal proceedings: - blank or issued documents (80 %), e.g. , identity cards, driving licences, residence permits, vehicle documents; - vehicles, , outboard engines, trailers, containers, caravans, aircraft and vehicle number plates (12 %); - firearms (1 %) and - banknotes, securities and means of payment (7 %). • The SIS is consulted more than 10 million times a day by the competent author- ities. There were more than 200 000 hits in 2016: around 158 000 persons and 42 000 objects were detected, including almost 15 000 stolen vehicles. This means that more than 550 hits occurred every day (including a daily average of 40 stolen vehicles located and 33 wanted persons arrested). • At the end of 2016, the submitted to the and the Council a set of proposals for a new legal framework for the SIS. The aim of the proposals is to improve the SIS from a technical standpoint, tak- ing into account the increasing number of alerts, queries and hits, and to respond in particular to the development of forms of serious crime, including . The new legal framework would, inter alia, broaden the categories of alerts to be entered in the SIS and give more access to European agencies.

March 2018 | EN | SCHENGEN 7 m comco c ia. ol tolto t o Fo F – a – k yk nyk A © A

JUDICIAL COOPERATION

• Schengen countries apply some specific rules to facilitate the procedures regard- ing mutual judicial cooperation. This includes the principle ne bis in idem, so that a person may not be prosecuted and punished twice for the same acts in different countries of the Schengen area. Most of the original Schengen provisions on - lice and judicial cooperation have now been integrated into EU acts applicable to all EU Member States.

VISAS

• A common Schengen visa (short-stay - C visa) is issued to third country nationals who visit the Schengen area and who are subject to a visa requirement under Regulation (EU) No 539/2001. It grants free movement throughout the Schengen

8 SCHENGEN | EN | March 2018 area during its period of validity. This period cannot exceed 90 days in any 180-day period. Stays longer than 90 days, as well as residence in the Schengen countries, are governed by national legislation (D visa), with the exception of legal stays of specific categories of people, for example students and researchers or seasonal workers, which are governed by specific EU directives. • 13,9 million Schengen visas were issued worldwide in 2016. The number of long- term visas (national visas, for stays longer than 90 days) issued by Schengen coun- tries in 2013 was just over 1 million. • Schengen countries cooperate in order to make it easier for applicants to apply for Schengen visas in their own countries or . • All consulates of the Schengen countries in the world apply the same rules for issuing C-visas. • The (VIS), connecting Member States and external bor- der crossing points to a common database, became operational in October 2011 and has now been rolled out to cover all the regions of the world. The system facilitates the processing of visa applications at consulates of Schengen coun- tries around the world and contributes to making external border controls more efficient.

ASYLUM 3

• In 2016, all 28 EU Member States combined issued 1 106 405 decisions. • A mechanism exists (the Regulation and the Regulation) to de- termine the State responsible for processing an asylum application in order to prevent multiple asylum applications being submitted by the same person in different Schengen countries, and to avoid the risk of none of these countries dealing with such applications. To this end, a data-base to exchange fingerprints was created (Eurodac). • In May and July 2016, the Commission presented seven legislative proposals on the reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) with a view to im- proving the functioning of CEAS by eliminating differing treatment of asylum seekers and varying recognition rates among Member States, and reducing sec- ondary movements and contributing to a fairer distribution among the Member States of the responsibility to offer protection to those in need. The proposals are currently in different stages of negotiations between the co-legislators (European Parliament and the Council).

3 Whilst asylum was initially covered by the Schengen Convention, formally it is no longer considered part of the Schengen acquis.

March 2018 | EN | SCHENGEN 9 EU Member States fully applying the Schengen rules*

1995: Belgium – France – Germany – Luxembourg – the Netherlands – Portugal – Spain 1997: Austria – Italy 2000: Greece 2001: Denmark – Finland – Sweden 2007: Czech Republic – Estonia – Hungary – Latvia – Lithuania – Malta – Poland – Slovakia – Slovenia

Non-EU Member States fully applying the Schengen rules*

2001: Iceland – Norway 2008: Switzerland 2011: Liechtenstein

NL EU Member States in the process of fully applying the Schengen rules*

Bulgaria – Croatia – Romania LU

EU Member States not applying, or not fully applying, the Schengen rules*

Cyprus – Ireland – United Kingdom

* December 2017

1010 SCSCHENGENHENGEN | EENN | MMarcharch 22018018 (PT)

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