Schengen Agreement and Schengen Implementing Convention

By signing the Schengen Agreement on 14 June 1985, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed to gradually abolish controls at their internal borders. The Schengen Implementing Convention supplements the agreement and lays down the arrangements and safeguards for establishing an area without internal border controls. It was signed by the same five European Union (EU) Member States on 19 June 1990 and entered into force in 1995. The agreement and the convention, along with the relevant agreements and rules, together form the ‘Schengen acquis’, which was integrated into the EU legal framework in 1999, thus becoming EU legislation. The Treaty of Lisbon made an ‘area … without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured’ an EU goal.

Today 30 European countries, including 26 of the 27 Member States and the four European Free Trade Association countries – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – are part of Schengen.

Cyprus accepted the Schengen acquis as part of its EU accession process and is a Schengen state. This means that it takes part in closer cooperation under Schengen. However, the Council of the European Union has not yet abolished border controls with Cyprus, and its full integration is currently in progress.

Ireland, on the other hand, is exceptionally allowed, under the Schengen Protocol, not to apply the Schengen rules. It therefore maintains its own visa and border policies. However, given the benefits of Schengen cooperation, Ireland has requested to participate in some Schengen areas, including the Schengen information system and judicial and police cooperation.

As part of the EU enlargement process, EU candidate countries must adopt a Schengen governance system. This requires aligning national rules with all Schengen requirements and building strong national systems to apply them effectively.

Once a country joins the EU, it becomes a Schengen state. All Schengen rules are binding upon accession, although some apply later. These include full access to all information systems, the right to issue Schengen visas and the abolition of internal border controls. To apply the full set of rules, with the lifting of controls at internal borders as the final milestone, the new Schengen state must go through an evaluation process. This process is coordinated by the European Commission in close cooperation with Member States under the Schengen evaluation mechanism.

Once the evaluation confirms that the Schengen state is ready to fully join the Schengen area and abolish internal border controls, the Council needs to take a decision to allow this final step.