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Membership and implementation The agreement signed in 1985 established the steps to be taken to create the Schengen area. An additional document, known as the Schengen Convention, was created which put the Schengen area into practice. This second document replaced the first and was signed by each country on the dates shown below. For each member country there has been a delay between signing the agreement and actually implementing it. Membership Inclusions and exceptions Included in the Schengen zone: The following territories of the membership countries are not covered by the agreement: The following territories of the membership countries are indirectly covered, and do not have full passport check against the Schengen zone: Implementation The eight Eastern- and Central-European countries who signed on May 1 2004 are set to implement the agreement in autumn 2008 *. Cyprus and Malta are on a different timetable. Switzerland also has yet to implement the agreement; therefore only the fifteen countries (above) are currently full members of the Schengen Agreement. 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. The Council of the European Union is scheduled to review the results between April and September of 2007. * Non-signatories of note Principles behind the agreement: simpler travel and improved external borders control
National Security A country is permitted by the article 2.2 of the agreement to reinstate border controls for a short period if it is deemed in the interest of national security. This occurred in Portugal during the 2004 European Football Championship and in France for the ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of D-Day. It was used again by France shortly after the London bombings in July of 2005. (This was despite the fact that the UK is not part of Schengen and the France-UK border controls were always in place. One of the bombers managed to pass unimpeded through France, only to be arrested in Rome.) Finland briefly reinstated border controls during the 2005 World Championships in Athletics that took place in Helsinki Olympic Stadium during August 2005, and Germany did the same in June 2006 during the 2006 FIFA World Cup. 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. Previously, a criminal with police in hot pursuit would be safe once they managed to cross the border, but under the agreements of the Schengen Agreement police from one nation can cross national borders to chase their target for up to 30km (18.6 miles.) The officers have to wear their uniforms, their vehicles have to be marked as police vehicles and they may only use their weapons for self-defence. Customs Control Between most of the internal borders of the Schengen countries, border controls have completely been removed. Although the Schengen Agreement does not forbid customs control as long as there is no fixed passport check (random passport checks can still be implemented). The Schengen Agreement also intends to harmonise the laws and regulations of several policy areas, in order to minimise the extent to which criminals can take advantage of the relaxation of controls. At this point in time this is still a rather grey area: for example, the Dutch policy on drugs differs from the French policy, and a person could buy drugs in the Netherlands and transport them to France to sell on the black market. This is much easier when there are no border controls between the two countries (via Belgium). As a result of this particular difference in policy France insisted on maintaining border controls on people entering France from the Benelux countries for some time after the agreement was implemented. Likewise some countries, including Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, still maintain customs control at their borders. Their main reasons for having customs control are to control the smuggling of drugs and alcohol. Information sharing The Schengen III Agreement was signed on 27 May, 2005 by seven countries (Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium) at Prüm, Germany. This agreement, based on the principle of availability which began to be discussed after the Madrid bomb attack on 11 March, 2004, could enable them to exchange all data regarding DNA, fingerprint data of concerned persons and to cooperate against terrorism. Finland has also indicated an interest in joining. * Schengen and the European Union All Schengen Agreement signatories except Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are European Union members. Two EU members (the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland) have opted not to sign the Schengen Agreement (their reasons are outlined above). 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 1952. 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. However, the Treaty of Amsterdam incorporated the developments brought about by the Schengen agreement into the European Union framework, effectively making the Schengen Agreement part of the EU. Amongst other things the Council of the European Union took the place of the Executive Committee which had been created under the Schengen agreement. Future applicants to the European Union must fulfil the Schengen Agreement criteria regarding their external border policies in order to be accepted into the EU. The existing signatories who are not EU members have less opportunity to participate in shaping the evolution of the Schengen Agreement as a result of the Treaty of Amsterdam. Their options are effectively reduced to agreeing with whatever is presented before them or withdrawing from the Agreement. Gaining entry Member States of the Schengen area have elaborated uniform rules as to the type of visas which may be issued for a short-term stay, not exceeding three months, on the territory of one, several or all of those States. The Schengen member states offer visa-free travel to holders of certain passports that allows 90-day travel for tourist purposes. The uniform visa enables aliens that are subject to the visa requirement to present themselves at the external border of the Member State which issued the visa or that of another Member State and request transit or stay, depending on the type of visa. The uniform visa is granted in the form of a sticker affixed by a Member State onto a passport, travel document or another valid document which entitles the holder to cross the border. In other words, mere possession of a uniform visa does not confer automatic right of entry. It will only be granted if the other transit or entry conditions laid down by the Schengen Agreement have been met, notably the means of subsistence that aliens must have at their disposal, as well as the purpose and the conditions of the stay. To obtain a Schengen visa the traveller must take the following steps: For citizens of countries not party to the Schengen Agreement, restrictions exist that govern the length of one's stay within the Schengen area. The general rule stipulates a maximum 90-day stay within a 180-day period beginning from the first day of entry. Provided a multiple-entry visa has been granted, one may leave and return a number of times within the 180-day period but the combined stay within the region must total no more than 90 days. See also | |||||||||||
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