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European Commission proposes extending Schengen border controls

Xinhua, October 26, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU) Tuesday proposed to prolong temporary internal border controls in the passport-free Schengen area to February 2017 despite the influx of migrants has fallen dramatically.

Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway will be allowed to carry out checks at certain internal Schengen borders for another three months, the European Commission, EU's executive body proposed in a statement.

These countries were supposed to lift all internal border controls by 12 November, in accordance with the decision make by EU member states in May.

The European Commission argued that lifting the temporary border controls could lead to an increase in secondary movements of migrants from the frontline countries, like Greece.

Despite a significant decrease in the number of arrivals of irregular migrants and asylum seekers, notably due to the continued implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, around 60,500 irregular migrants still remains in Greece.

The combination of serious deficiencies in the management of the external border by Greece and the significant number of unregistered migrants present in Greece who may have sought to move irregularly to other member states, created exceptional circumstances constituting a serious threat to public policy and internal security and endangering the overall functioning of the Schengen area, the statement said.

Therefore, the European Commission said it considered that the conditions allowing for a return to a normally functioning Schengen area are not yet fully fulfilled.

"We are working hard to return to a normal functioning Schengen area as soon as possible, and we have made significant progress. But we are not there yet. That's why we propose today a further limited extension of certain border controls, in line with the Schengen rules," First Vice-President of the European Commission Timmermans said.

"We are unfortunately not there yet," the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos reiterated, adding that the EU should continue its work to further address all current migratory and security challenges as to lift all internal border controls as soon as possible.

The Schengen Area included 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their mutual borders. However, border checks have become the norm in parts of Schengen area that saw massive influx of migrants last summer and autumn. Enditem