Brussels, 23/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - On 23 November, the European Commission published its second report on the state of the Schengen area, a report that covers the period from 1 May 2012 to 31 October 2012 and in which it assesses respect - or otherwise - of the rules of the area of freedom of movement by member states, by looking, for example, at the number of border controls or the number of Schengen visas issued. The Commission had for the first time carried out this “health check” in May this year, at the request of member states.
According to this last recasting regarding border management, nearly 23,000 illegal border crossings were detected between April and June 2012, the Commission states in a press release, i.e. “which represents a 44% decrease compared to the same period in 2011 in the midst of the Arab Spring”. However, the detections at the land borders between Greece and Turkey reported a 29% increase, the Commission states, with 56% of all detections being at this border section, which remains the main entry point for irregular migration into the EU. The Commission states, moreover, that, since redeployment during August 2011 of some 1,800 border guards, “controls at this border section have been greatly improved, with the Greek authorities reporting a sharp decrease of detected irregular border crossings in the Evros area”. It notes in its report that more and more Syrians have crossed the border.
Regarding application of Schengen rules, the Commission states it has only observed controls at borders on two occasions in six months; in Spain and in Poland. Spain restored controls on the occasion of a meeting of the European Central Bank in Barcelona from 2 to 4 May 2012, and Poland carried out controls for the Euro 2012 football championship between 4 June and 1 July. The Commission also carried out inspections in several countries, it states in a press release. For example, it inspected the sea borders in Estonia, the protection of data in Malta, the question of visas in Latvia and Lithuania, and the working of SIS/Sirene in Denmark, Iceland and Norway. These controls did not show any deficiencies that would require immediate action, the Commission said. Over the period examined, the Commission nonetheless called for information on measures subject to questioning of Germany and Lithuania, and continued its investigations on seven dossiers already open, there too involving Germany as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Sweden. (SP/transl.jl)