THE SCHENGEN AGREEMENT AND THE CONVENTION IMPLEMENTING THE SCHENGEN
the Schengen Agreement:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Development of the Schengen Agreement
On 14 June 1985 the Federal
Republic of Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed the
Schengen Agreement (Schengen being a place in Luxembourg) on the gradual
abolition of checks at their common borders.
On 19 June 1990 the Convention
Implementing the Schengen Agreement was signed. Its key points relate to
measures designed to create, following the abolition of common border checks, a
common area of security and justice. Specifically it is concerned with:
- harmonizing provisions relating to entry into
and short stays in the Schengen area by non-EU citizens (uniform Schengen
- asylum matters (determining in which Member
State an application for asylum may be submitted);
- measures to combat cross-border drugs-related
- police cooperation (hot pursuit);
- cooperation among Schengen states on judicial
The Convention Implementing the
Schengen Agreement entered into force on 1 September 1993; its
provisions could not take practical effect, however, until the necessary
technical and legal prerequisites (such as data banks and the relevant data
protection authorities) were in place. The Convention thus took practical
effect on 26 March 1995 for the original Parties to the Schengen Agreement as
well as for Spain and Portugal. Since 1995 Italy, Greece, Austria, Denmark,
Finland and Sweden have acceded to the Convention, which only entered into
force for the three Nordic countries on 25 March 2001. A Schengen cooperation
agreement was concluded with the non-EU members of the Nordic Passport Union
(Norway and Iceland) in 1996. Norway and Iceland have also fully implemented
the Schengen regime since 25 March 2001.
Once checks at common borders are
completely abolished, the holder of a uniform visa is entitled to stay in the
above-mentioned 15 countries which apply the Convention Implementing the
Schengen Agreement for a maximum of up to 90 days per six-month period during
the visa's period of validity.
of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement
- Citizens of countries implementing the
Schengen Agreement (see item 1) can cross the internal borders of the
implementing countries at any point without checks.
- A visa with no territorial restrictions
(visitor's or business visa allowing the holder to stay up to 90 days per
six-month period, transit or airport visa) granted to a third-country
national by one implementing country entitles the holder, for the same
purpose and for the duration of the visa's validity, to enter without
border checks other implementing countries as well.
- Any third-country national with a residence
permit valid in one implementing country may travel on a valid passport,
without requiring a visa, for up to 90 days per six-month period to other
- Harmonized visa policies of Schengen
countries (common list of third countries whose nationals require visas).
- External border checks according to a common
- Access by all Schengen countries to the
Schengen Information System (SIS) providing personal identity and other
data throughout the Schengen area.
- Close police and judicial cooperation.
- Joint efforts to combat drug-related crime.
- Rules determining competence for asylum
procedures (now largely replaced by similar provisions in the Dublin
Convention of 15 June 1990).
of the Schengen Agreement into the European Union
As from 1 May 1999 the Schengen
Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam of 2 October 1997 incorporated Schengen
cooperation into the framework of the EU.
The European Community thus
acquired competence for large areas of the Schengen acquis (the Schengen
Agreement and the various provisions adopted in this context) as well as its
further development. For Britain, Ireland and Denmark special arrangements have
been made. Although Britain and Ireland are not parties to the Schengen
Agreement, they can, with the approval of the EU Council, apply the Schengen
acquis in whole or in part and participate in its further development. Denmark
will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to participate, under international
law, in the further development of the acquis and to incorporate into its
national law also Community law developed without its participation.
The cooperation agreements
between the implementing countries and Norway and Iceland respectively have
been replaced by association agreements with the EU, very similar in content,
concluded on the basis of the Treaty of Amsterdam.
For EU citizens and third country
nationals living in the EU the Schengen Agreement has resulted in substantially
increased freedom of travel and improved safety within the Schengen countries
and at their external border.
legal provisions relating to the Schengen Agreement
1. Agreement of 14 June 1985
between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the
Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic on the Gradual Abolition of
Checks at their Common Borders: Joint Ministerial Gazette 1986, p. 79 ff.
2. Convention of 19 June
1990 Implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the
Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic
of Germany and the French Republic on the Gradual Abolition of Checks at their
Common Borders (Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement): Federal Law
Gazette II 1993, p. 1013 ff.
3. Act of 15 July 1993 on
the Schengen Agreement of 19 June 1990 on the Gradual Abolition of Checks
at the Common Borders: Federal Law Gazette II 1993, p. 1010 ff.
4. Notification of 14 June
1985 of the Entry into Force of the Convention Implementing the Schengen
Agreement of 14 June 1985 between the Governments of the States of the
Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic
on the Gradual Abolition of Checks at their Common Borders: Federal Law Gazette
II 1994, p. 631 ff.
5. Treaty of Amsterdam of 2
October 1997 (Federal Law Gazette 1998 II, p. 386).