The European Parliament and Council have agreed new rules for the Schengen Borders Code. This regulation will strengthen EU coordination to deal with challenges at the EU external borders, and cross-border health and security threats.
The Schengen area has faced various challenges over recent years, from the Covid-19 pandemic to security threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, and irregular migration. Such developments require an updated Schengen rulebook.
The European Commission says there is a clear need to boost Schengen’s resilience to serious threats and adapt the Schengen rules to evolving challenges. It announced an intention to update and revise the Schengen Borders Code in December 2021. The reform aims to complete the range of tools necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the Schengen area at the external and internal borders.
The new agreement includes the following measures to strengthen the Schengen Borders Code:
- Stronger external borders, with measures to address the instrumentalization of migrants;
- Reinforced framework for the use of cross-border police cooperation in border regions as an alternative to internal border controls;
- A revised framework for the possible reintroduction of internal border controls as a last resort, in a structured system with defined time limits and increased safeguards;
- New transfer procedure for irregular migrants, to help member states deal with secondary movements within the EU;
- Travel restrictions for third-country nationals at the EU’s external borders during major health emergencies, with common and simplified rules for limiting travel by non-EU nationals.
The regulation must now be formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. It will enter into force on the 20th day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The Schengen area comprises 27 countries. With the addition of Romania and Bulgaria on March 31, 2024, it will grow to 4.5 million square kilometers with a population of 450 million.
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