Brussels, 12/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The meeting in Brussels on Thursday 12 May of EU27 interior minsters to discuss whether to change the Schengen rules kicked off with some theatrics. On Wednesday night, the minsters learned that Denmark is planning to tighten up various controls along its borders with Sweden and Germany, saying this is needed to stem the increase in crime from across the border. The German interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, said he was “astonished” at the news, saying in Brussels on Thursday morning that he was waiting for more explanations from Denmark. The European Commission has also demanded explanations.
The meeting on Thursday therefore started with the other ministers quizzing the Danish integration minister, Soeren Pind, who said that the border controls in question were not of people or passports, but of goods. The Danish government is planning to increase the number of customs officers and the number of goods inspections using scanners in order to search for arms and drugs on freight lorries. Such customs inspections are covered by the Schengen rules, he added, pointing out that they would be carried out at various points close to the border but not at the border itself. Pind added that Sweden and the Netherlands already make similar customs inspections.
The explanation satisfied the other ministers but the news no doubt helped the countries that do not want any changes to the rules for the Schengen area to make themselves heard at the meeting. The meeting took a rather cautious approach to the European Commission's suggestions, unveiled on 4 May 2011, that mention, as desired by France, a “mechanism” to re-introduce internal border controls within Schengen in exceptional circumstances.
All the member states started by stating that they value the Schengen area, which has to be preserved. Belgium, Malta and Portugal were able to make use of the Danish incident to call on the other countries not to re-introduce border controls but rather to improve the existing set-up, recommending an EU repose to any future border controls within Schengen. Germany's interior ministers warned about the danger of unilaterally re-introducing border controls because this could have a domino effect and increase the pressure on neighbouring countries, which may then be forced to re-introduce border controls themselves. France also argued against “arbitrary decisions” about re-introducing internal border controls, with the French interior minister, Claude Guéant, calling for EU consultation based on clear criteria and concerted efforts within the EU.
This cautious line and defence of Schengen had enabled France to “dissipate some misunderstandings” said Claude Guéant, saying that reforming Schengen meant first and foremost improving it and making it more secure, but certainly did not mean challenging its existence and that even in the event of a crisis in the Schengen area, the response should be “collective”.
At least 15 member states took this line on Thursday, including Germany and Italy. Agreement was reached among these 15 or so countries to work on changes to the Schengen area, although they describe the moves at this stage as “clarifications”. The clarification would need to be the subject of proposals from the European Commission, but precisely what legal status this would have would need to be decided in the next few weeks. It might include new situations in which internal borders could be temporarily re-introduced, like failure by a member state to properly manage the EU's borders, or a flood of would-be immigrants on the EU's borders.
Germany, Austria and France argue that the European Commission should have a limited role to play when it comes to border control decisions, arguing that the member states should decide whether and when to re-introduce border controls although according to ideas mooted by France, the member states might be required to discuss matters among themselves and inform each other of such moves in advance, ignoring Brussels. The three countries argue that any decision would only be taken as a last resort in exceptional circumstances on a preventive basis to protect the Schengen area from the worst case scenarios. The French minister said that 25,000 Tunisians on the border would not constitute an exceptional circumstance justifying the re-introduction of border controls. (S.P./transl.fl)