Schengen enlargement

On 21 December 2007, an unprecedented enlargement of the Schengen area took place: nine additional countries joined the Schengen area, which now encompasses over 400 million citizens and 25 countries (22 EU Member States – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden – plus the three associated countries Norway, Iceland and Switzerland).

“This introductory page of the Section ‘enlargement’ gives a general presentation in two parts: Part I covers the latest developments which occurred within the recent years. Part II gives a time-line of establishment and enlargement of the Schengen area.”

I) Latest developments

On 21 December 2007, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the Schengen area . A year later, on 12 December 2008, Swiss accession followed. It is now possible to travel from the Iberian Peninsula to the Baltic States and from Greece to Finland without border checks.

Before joining the Schengen area, significant preparations are required. Becoming a member of the European Union does not mean automatic accession to the Schengen area without internal border checks.

Freedom to travel and lifting of internal borders cannot come at the expense of security. Therefore, every Member State that joins the Schengen area has to prove that it is ready to take on the responsibility for the control of the external borders of the Union on behalf of the other Member States and for the issuing of Schengen visas. It has to cooperate efficiently with law enforcement agencies in other Member States, in order to be able to guarantee a high level of security after border control between the Member States has been abolished.

Lifting internal border control also entails considerable investment. To help the Member States who joined the EU in 2004 to prepare for this task, a “Schengen Facility” was provided for under Article 35(1) of the Act of Accession. This EU-funded programme applicable to Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia was a temporary instrument to help beneficiary Member States to finance action at the new external borders of the Union to implement the Schengen acquis and external border control. Its total budget was €961.4 million. Similarly, Bulgaria and Romania, the two countries which joined the EU in 2007, benefit from a Cash-flow and Schengen Facility (see Article 32 of the Protocol concerning the conditions and arrangements for admission of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union [432 KB] for details).

To prove that they are ready to join the Schengen area, the Member States undergo a “Schengen evaluation” by Member States’ experts (supported by the experts of the European Commission) to verify all relevant areas of the Schengen acquis: control of land, sea and air borders (airports); issuing of visas; police cooperation; readiness to connect to and use the Schengen Information System; and data protection. Responsibility for this evaluation lies with the Council, as the Member States need to build up mutual trust.

The key precondition for a positive decision regarding Schengen enlargement is that all the conditions for full application of the Schengen acquis must have been met in the Member State concerned. The decision must be taken unanimously by the Council (only Member States that are implementing the relevant Schengen provisions or in respect of which those provisions are going to be put into effect actually participate in this decision-making). Before the decision is taken, the European Parliament is consulted.

Everyone who enters the Schengen area lawfully is allowed to cross internal borders with and between the new Schengen Member States without being subjected to border checks. Third-country nationals who have to possess a short-stay visa can travel with a single Schengen visa throughout the entire Schengen area, and a residence permit issued by a Schengen Member State has equivalent force to a short-stay visa.

It must be added that monitoring the level of compliance with the Schengen acquis does not end when a new country joins the Schengen area but is repeated periodically to ensure that high standards are continuously maintained.

II) Time-line

Establishment and subsequent enlargements of the Schengen area

14 June 1985: Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands sign the Schengen Agreement.

19 June 1990: the original founders of the Schengen cooperation sign the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (Schengen Convention).

26 March 1995: abolition of border control between Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.

26 October 1997: start of gradual abolition of border control with Italy (completed on 31 March 1998).

1 December 1997: start of gradual abolition of border control with Austria (completed on 31 March 1998).

1 March 2000: abolition of border control with Greece (completed on 26 March 2000).

25 March 2001: abolition of border control with Norway, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

21 December 2007: abolition of control of land and sea borders with the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia (border checks on intra-Schengen flights at airports abolished on 30 March 2008).

12 December 2008: abolition of border control at land borders with Switzerland (border checks on intra-Schengen flights at airports being abolished on 29 March 2009)