Where is Schengen heading?

Abstract

One of the biggest challenges the European Union facing today is undoubtedly the management of the refugee crisis in Europe, the terrorist threat and pandemic Covid–19, which have a significant impact on the functioning of the area without internal border controls (Schengen Area). In response to these challenges, some Member States increasingly reintroduce or have reintroduced border controls at their internal borders for longer and longer periods, which, in addition to restricting the free movement of people within the Schengen Area, has sometimes jeopardised the proper functioning of the single market. The reintroduction of border controls at internal borders under the Schengen Borders Code was initially intended to be exceptional and temporary, but the prolonged migration crisis on the one hand, and new threats such as the Covid–19 pandemic on the other, have not yet restored the functioning of the Schengen Area. The main aim of the study is to present and analyse the European Commission’s latest proposal to renew the Schengen Borders Code and to examine how the new amendments will help the return to an area without internal borders.