REINFORCING THE SCHENGEN AREA

The existing Schengen legal and technical tools already ensure a high level of safety for European citizens. Member States need to use the existing instruments to the greatest extent so that all persons representing a threat to internal security are appropriately dealt with. The Schengen Information System (SIS II) has proven to be one of the most efficient tools in following the travel routes of foreign fighters through discreet or specific check alerts or to retain them at the external borders if their travel documents are invalidated and entered into SIS for seizure. The Commission is currently working together with Member States to develop a common approach on making the best use of the possibilities under EU law, both as regards checks on documents and checks on persons. The tools are there – it is up to Member States to use them.

As far as the checks at the external borders are concerned, under the Schengen Borders Code the Member States must verify the travel documents of all persons – regardless of their nationality – at the external borders to establish the identity of the traveller. This includes verifying that the document is valid and not falsified or counterfeit. Member States can consult relevant databases (including the SIS database) for this purpose at each check. The Commission recommends that Member States carry out consultations of the databases more intensively, and is concerned that many Member States do not appear to be doing so.

At the same time, as regards checks on persons inside the Schengen area, Member States have the possibility, on a non-systematic basis, to consult national and EU databases to ensure that persons enjoying the right of free movement under Union law do not represent a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to the internal security and public policy of the Member States. Such verification is to be done on the basis of threat assessment, which can be quite wide-ranging and adapted to the threat represented by foreign fighters, and allows for checks on all persons covered by that threat assessment.

As far as the checks within the Member States territories are concerned, the competent national authorities are entitled to carry out identity checks on persons present in their territory to verify for instance the legality of stay or for law enforcement purposes.

According to Article 23 and following of the Schengen Borders Code, Member States may exceptionally reintroduce border control, where there is a serious threat to public order or internal security. For foreseeable events, a Member State must notify the other Member States and the Commission in advance. In cases requiring urgent action a Member State may immediately reintroduce border control at internal borders, while, at the same time, notifying the other Member States and the Commission accordingly. The reintroduction of border control is in principle limited to 30 days. In general, if a Member State decides to reintroduce border controls, the scope and duration of the temporary reintroduction cannot not exceed what is strictly necessary to address the serious threat.

Note: Spain wants to see the Schengen treaty modified to allow border controls to be restored to limit the movements of Islamic fighters returning to Europe from the Middle East. The existing mobility in the European Union is facilitating the movements (of jihadists) to any country