{"id":4664,"date":"2026-06-03T23:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/eu-pressures-schengen-nations-to-drop-border-controls\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T23:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:09:20","slug":"eu-pressures-schengen-nations-to-drop-border-controls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/eu-pressures-schengen-nations-to-drop-border-controls\/","title":{"rendered":"EU Pressures Schengen Nations to Drop Border Controls"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to Brussels Signal<\/em>, recommendations issued on June 2 target Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia and Sweden, all of which have maintained or expanded internal checks under exceptional provisions that were never intended to last for years.<\/p>\n

While the Schengen Borders Code allows member states to temporarily reintroduce internal controls during exceptional circumstances, Brussels officials argue that prolonged use of such measures threatens the integrity of one of the EU’s most visible accomplishments: borderless travel across much of the continent.<\/p>\n

The Commission acknowledged what it described as legitimate security and migration concerns but insisted that the circumstances justifying many of these emergency measures have evolved, particularly with irregular crossings at the EU’s external borders declining compared to previous years.<\/p>\n

Magnus Brunner<\/strong>, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, told AFP that member states could now begin phasing out the controls, though he stopped short of demanding immediate action.<\/p>\n

Border Checks That Have Lasted Nearly a Decade<\/h2>\n

Austria has kept controls on its borders with Hungary and Slovenia active since 2015, arguing that irregular migration continues to threaten public order. Denmark has maintained checks at its German border since January 2016, repeatedly extending what were initially billed as temporary measures.<\/p>\n

France has not lifted internal border controls since the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks, citing ongoing terrorism threats and public security concerns as justification for what has become nearly a decade of continuous enforcement.<\/p>\n

Germany expanded its internal checks to cover all land borders in September 2024, responding to irregular migration and concerns over smuggling networks. Italy reintroduced controls at its Slovenian border in October 2023, pointing to Middle Eastern security developments and Western Balkans migration routes.<\/p>\n

The Netherlands imposed temporary checks in 2024 as part of government efforts to curb irregular migration. Norway, which participates in Schengen despite not being an EU member, has maintained controls at ports and ferry connections since 2015.<\/p>\n

Slovenia reinstated controls with Hungary and Croatia in October 2023, while Sweden has maintained various forms of internal checks since November 2015, arguing that migration pressures and security threats continue unabated.<\/p>\n

Recommendations Lack Legal Force<\/h2>\n

The Commission’s recommendations are not legally binding, meaning governments are under no immediate obligation to comply. However, the opinions increase political pressure on national capitals to justify continued use of measures that, in several cases, have been renewed dozens of times through successive extensions.<\/p>\n

Member states maintaining internal controls must continue demonstrating that such measures are necessary, proportionate and genuinely temporary under Schengen rules. Brussels is expected to review the justifications provided by these governments in coming months.<\/p>\n

Several national governments continue to defend internal border checks as essential tools against irregular migration, cross-border crime and terrorism, setting up a potential confrontation between Brussels and capitals determined to maintain border security on their own terms.<\/p>\n

With information from Brussels Signal<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Commission urged nine Schengen countries to dismantle internal border controls introduced during the 2015 migration crisis that have lasted nearly a decade despite being intended as temporary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":4663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[571,4816,1624,159,55,25,191,4815],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-4664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-austria","tag-border-controls","tag-denmark","tag-european-union","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-italy","tag-schengen-area","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4664"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=4664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}