Schengen Agreement

Schengen Agreement, international accord, concluded at Schengen in Luxembourg in June 1985 and signed there in June 1990, committing its signatories to the removal of all internal frontier controls, so creating a single external border. The Schengen Agreement came into force on July 1, 1995. The initial 1985 signatories were Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Greece, Portugal, and Spain signed in 1992; Austria in 1995; Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in 1996; and Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland in 2004. Of these countries, all have implemented the removal of internal borders except for Switzerland and Cyprus.

The Agreement was intended to bypass opposition among some members of the then European Community (EC; see European Union) to relaxation of border controls: fears over problems regarding terrorism, immigration, drug smuggling, and disease controls were to be allayed by strengthening controls at EC external borders. According to the Agreement, visa requirements are harmonized, with visas valid for all participating countries and intelligence-sharing on suspect individuals. Citizens of signatory states are entitled to travel between them without showing their passports. Law enforcement through signatory states has been harmonized, with cooperation on cases of excise or tax irregularities and shared police databases. The Schengen Information System (SIS) enables police forces within the Schengen area to share information. These police forces also have a right of “hot pursuit”, enabling them to pursue suspected criminals across borders.

Statutory “identity checks” at borders can in practice provide effective customs controls without infringing the letter of the Agreement. Signatories can also reimpose border controls for short periods, for example during international sporting events.