Internal Borders in the Schengen Area: Is Schengen Crisis-Proof?

This study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizen’s Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the LIBE Committee, analyses the Schengen area in the wake of the European ‘refugee crisis’ and other recent developments.

With several Member States reintroducing temporary internal border controls during 2016, the study assesses compliance with the Schengen governance framework in this context. Despite suggestions that the end of Schengen is nigh or arguments that there is a need to get ‘back to Schengen’, the research demonstrates that Schengen is alive and well and that border controls have, at least formally, complied with the legal framework. Nonetheless, better monitoring and democratic accountability are necessary.

• Primary Source

European Parliament: Directorate-General for Internal Policies of the Union: Publications available via the EU Bookshop http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/directorate-general-for-internal-policies-of-the-union-cbf.cKABstF7wAAAEjwYYY4e5K/

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Study, June 2016: Internal Borders in the Schengen Area: Is Schengen Crisis-Proof? http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2016/571356/IPOL_STU(2016)571356_EN.pdf

ESO: Background information: Schengen area http://www.europeansources.info/record/schengen-borders-and-visas/

ESO: Background information: Statement by Commissioner Avramopoulos on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of the Schengen Agreement http://www.europeansources.info/record/statement-by-commissioner-avramopoulos-on-the-occasion-of-the-31st-anniversary-of-the-schengen-agreement/

ESO: Background information: Schengen Border Controls: Challenges and Policy Options http://www.europeansources.info/record/schengen-border-controls-challenges-and-policy-options/

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