The Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement

The Schengen Agreement was signed in , by five European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands), near Schengen, a small town in Luxembourg.

It is an agreement among European states which allows for common policy on the temporary entry of persons (including the Schengen visa) and a border system.

It has already been signed by 26 countries - including all European Union states except the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, but including non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.

Border posts and checks have been removed between Schengen countries and a common 'Schengen visa' allows access to the area. However, the agreement does not cover residency or work permits for non-EU nationals.

It was originally separate from the European Union but it became later on a EU competence, although there are some non-EU members inside the Schengen area and some EU members outside. The Schengen Agreement was created independently of the European Union in part due to the lack of consensus amongst EU members, and in part because those ready to implement the idea did not wish to wait for others who were not ready.

Out of the 26 members of the agreement, 15 have already implemented it (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden). The other 11 have not implemented it yet (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland).

The main reason that the non-EU states of Iceland and Norway joined was to preserve the open borders agreement between the Nordic countries that has been in effect since .

Each new country, before fully implementing the Schengen Agreement, will need to have its preparedness assessed in four areas: air borders, visas, police cooperation, and personal data protection. This evaluation process involves a questionnaire and visits of EU experts to selected institutions and workplaces of the country under assessment.

Citizens of non-EU, non-EEA (European Economic Area) countries who wish to visit Europe as tourists, and who require a visa to enter the Schengen area, are required to get only the common Schengen Visa from the Embassy/Consulate of any of the Schengen countries. They are not required to get separate visas for all the (Schengen) European countries they wish to visit. This applies, of course, only for visit to those countries who have implemented the Schengen agreement.

The Schengen Agreement removed border checks between participating countries, that is why they have to co-ordinate their external controls. This is necessary since a person acceptable to one country but not to another can still enter both, if one admits him. For example, immigration policy must be agreed upon as immigrants can enter through the most relaxed border and make their way to less hospitable countries once within Schengenland unless entry criteria are homogeneous.

The Schengen Agreement also includes consent to share information about people, via the Schengen Information System. This means that a potentially undesirable person cannot 'disappear' simply by moving from one participant country to another as each country will know the same about the person's background.