The Schengen Area came into existence in 1985 as a project to improve trade and the movement of people between five neighbouring European countries. The original five members were Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The original Schengen Agreement was signed in the village of Schengen in Luxembourg in 1985, and the Schengen Convention came into effect five years later in 1990.
The five founding countries were added to over the years, and today, there are 27 member states, which together make up the world’s biggest free travel area as there are no internal border checks within the Schengen Area. People or goods coming into the Schengen Zone are only checked once at the external border of the region. This means that a visitor to the Schengen Area can enter through, for example, the south of Spain and can then travel all the way through Europe to the northern reaches of Norway without the need to go through passport control in any of the intermediate countries. The same is true of goods such as vehicles, coaches, and trains.
Current Members
A total of 27 countries are currently signed up for the Schengen Agreement. Many European Union member states are also part of the Schengen Area, and the two entities, the EU and Schengen Area, are often confused as their membership is so similar.
Like the Schengen Area, there are also 27 member countries in the EU, and all but four of the twenty-seven are also part of the Schengen Area.
The four EU countries that are NOT part of Schengen are:
- Cyprus
- Bulgaria
- Romania
- Republic of Ireland
Of these four, the Republic of Ireland has expressed no interest in becoming a Schengen member, while Cyprus is awaiting admission, which could become a reality as early as 2023. Romania and Bulgaria have successfully completed the evaluation process as required in the Treaties of Accession. The two countries are awaiting a final decision on their admission to the Schengen Area but no confirmation announcement has as yet been made although one is expected by 2024 if not earlier.
Alongside the 23 EU member states that are also Schengen Area members there are a further four countries that are not part of the EU but are included in the Schengen Area. These four countries are Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Conditions of Entry
Becoming a Schengen member state is not simply a matter of requesting admission. There is a set list of pre-conditions which must be met before any application can be approved and satisfying the conditions of entry can be a challenging and time-consuming process.
Any country wishing to become a Schengen Area member must:
- Assume the responsibility of controlling any borders that will be a part of the external limit of the Schengen Area.
- Establish efficient cooperation practises and policies with law enforcement agencies in all other Schengen member states.
- Agree to the use of the Schengen Information System (SIS), an information-sharing system used by Schengen countries to manage border security.
Additionally, prospective Schengen members must apply a set of rules common to all Schengen countries called the “Schengen Acquis” which cover a multitude of legal, political, security, administrative and financial matters.
The Schengen Acquis
In order to be considered for membership, a candidate country must fulfil all of the requirements set out in the Schengen Acquis. This is a set of rules and regulations that are used to ensure the member countries all have common policies and laws across a wide-ranging spectrum of business, economic, legal and personal matters. This is necessary to ensure the smooth operation of what can be viewed as a single state rather than a collection of disparate countries.
Candidate countries must agree to all conditions contained in the Schengen Acquis and undertake to accept, apply, and enforce all aspects of these conditions.
The Schengen Acquis comprises 35 conditions, called chapters, which must be met before a country can be accepted as a member. While all of the conditions must be satisfied, the most significant of these are:
- Free Movement of Goods: All products and goods must be allowed to travel freely within the Schengen Area, and no goods may be prohibited without a valid reason.
- Free Movement of Workers: The Schengen Acquis also applies in the European Union, and signatories must grant all EU workers the right to find employment in any of the EU or Schengen Area countries with the same rates of pay and working conditions as native workers.
- Financial Services: All financial institutions must be allowed to operate in any Schengen country under the same regulations applicable in the institution’s home country. These services include insurance, banking, investments, securities and pensions.
- Food Safety: Agreed safety standards and production methods must be maintained in the production and packaging of foodstuffs. This chapter also covers rules covering animal welfare and the tracking of animal origin, as well as quality standards for seeds, animal feed, and the use of fertilisers or weedkillers.
- Transport: This chapter covers all aspects of transport used across the Schengen Area and imposes a set of technical and safety standards. All forms of transport must adhere to strict safety, efficiency and environmental requirements.
- Energy: All matters relating to the sourcing and provision of energy for commercial and domestic use are regulated in the Schengen Area and monitored for competitiveness, safety and environmental impact. Gas and electricity suppliers must be able to trade freely, and steps must be taken to improve energy efficiency in the area of renewable energy.
- Taxation: While every Schengen member state is responsible for its own level of direct taxation, each must comply with general levels of indirect taxation across the zone. These include taxation, value-added tax (VAT) and excise duties imposed on goods such as tobacco, alcohol and energy supplies.
- Law, Justice and Security: Combating international crime and terrorism is of paramount importance, and new members must be prepared and equipped to meet the standards required to secure borders, issue visas, and cooperate in criminal investigations that impact any of the member states.
- Consumer Protection: Laws regarding consumer protection must be standardised in the Schengen Area and inserted into a candidate’s legal framework if required. This is to ensure the same standards of safety and guarantees apply in every Schengen country.
The final stage of the Schengen Acquis is the completion of Chapter 35. This chapter has no defined set of criteria and is used to cover any miscellaneous issues that may arise. These could include issues regarding a country’s poor implementation of immigration policies or history of human rights abuses among others.
Evaluation Process
Achieving full compliance with all chapters of the Schengen Acquis can take up to seven years and even longer if some issues remain unresolved. Progress is monitored and evaluated on an annual basis and recommendations are made as to where problems lie and what measures must be taken to remedy the problems.
Each annual evaluation is followed by a report from the European Commission which details the progress made, remedial action that needs to be taken and in which order of importance any issues must be addressed. The candidate country must submit a detailed plan of action outlining how any identified issues will be remedied and how long these will take to implement.
The remedial actions being implemented are closely monitored and recommendations can be made by the Schengen authorities to aid in the process. In some cases funding may be made available to a candidate country to help with completing the Schengen Acquis.
It is only when all conditions of the Schengen Acquis have been satisfied and the evaluation process completed that a country can be deemed as ready for admittance into the Schengen Area. The final stage is a vote by all the existing Schengen countries on the candidate’s admittance, a vote which must be passed unanimously.
Benefits of Schengen Membership
Becoming a Schengen Area member is expensive and complicated, but the benefits make the effort worthwhile.
- Economy: The freedom to move goods across such a vast area and into so many countries is of major economic benefit. Having a standard set of rules and regulations applicable across the Schengen Area is attractive to many businesses, corporations, and financial institutions, as there is less bureaucracy attached to conducting business.
- Security: Internal and external security is strengthened because information is shared between member states and updated regularly. This reduces the risk of criminals or terrorists gaining access to the Schengen Area as all suspicious Schengen Visa applications are closely scrutinised and checked before a visa can be granted.
- Tourism: Similarly, the ease of movement through virtually all of Europe is a major attraction for tourists as so much time is saved by not having to go through numerous border checks. Visitors from non-Schengen or non-EU countries must also go through the process of acquiring a Schengen Visa to enter the region, which can be off-putting for many prospective tourists. Increased visitor numbers mean increased business and more income for the member states.
Although gaining membership is not an easy undertaking, there are many benefits to joining the Schengen Area making it an attractive proposition for countries who are more than willing to undergo the arduous task of completing the conditions set out in the Schengen Acquis.
