Brussels, 10/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - All European foreign ministers support the idea of tightening controls on European nationals when they cross the EU's external borders. Not all of them, however, share the same opinion about a legislative amendment to the Schengen Border Code being the most appropriate option.
These mixed feelings about the Schengen Code reform dominated the discussions at the General Affairs Council on the fight against terrorism on Tuesday 10 February, which took place two days before the Informal Summit. France subsequently found itself somewhat isolated in this request, according to a report from one source.
The ministers held their talks in view of the Informal European Summit on Thursday 12 February, which is due to adopt a declaration on terrorism based on three themes: security of European citizens, prevention of radicalisation and cooperation with third countries.
On the other questions, discussions reached a high level of consensus, such as on the draft European PNR directive, which is expected to be adopted as soon as possible and the fight against propaganda on the Internet.
On the question of the Schengen Border Code, which seeks to impose systematic controls on European nationals (in addition to the validity of their identity and transport documents, their profile will be inspected on the basis of police data, such as the Schengen Information System), France is hoping to obtain an agreement on Thursday during the summit and even believes it possible to attain this objective, according to one diplomatic source. Italy is among the countries that did not push for a revision of this instrument on Tuesday. The Commission is not in favour of this either and Frans Timmermans therefore asserted that “these changes could have undesirable effects”.
It is not so much the philosophical problems affecting the Schengen acquis that are worrying the ministers but rather, the practical considerations. Another source explained that “such changes could create huge queues at airports and this costs money, additional staff and machines”. Furthermore, there have not yet been any precise ideas about what kinds of systematic controls are involved: for example, whether this involves targeting all European travellers or just individuals with suspect profiles and who respond to precise criteria. Nevertheless, according to one observer, this degree of precision will not necessarily be provided on Thursday by the EU 28, who are likely to make do with a declaration as vague as the one adopted in Riga at the end of January. EUROPE will be returning to this question. (Solenn Paulic)