Meeting on 18 May in the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE), MEPs decided by 55 votes to 5 with 5 abstentions to adopt two draft oral questions to the Commission and the EU Council on the situation in the Schengen area, where 14 countries have re-established internal border controls.
MEPs were originally due to debate the draft resolution on this subject tabled by Juan Lopez Aguilar (S&D, Spain) and initiated by Slovenian Tanja Fajon (S&D), but the debate and vote on the resolution was postponed until 25 May, explains the Slovenian's office. Agreement on the text was only reached on Friday afternoon, 15 May.
According to this draft resolution, which will be submitted to the June plenary, MEPs are expected to recall that the free movement area is a valuable asset of European construction and that, while they understand the measures taken in relation to the pandemic, Member States have not properly justified the notification of the re-establishment of these internal controls. They provided little detail on how these measures limit the spread of the virus.
The MEPs are of the opinion that more targeted measures at the regional level could have achieved the same objectives.
They stress that the Schengen Borders Code itself allows such measures only in exceptional and limited circumstances, strictly proportionate and based on objective criteria.
The text also deplores the fact that the reintroduction of controls has created great difficulties for border residents, but has also caused congestion in the crossing areas, with situations in which people have found themselves in contact without protection or distancing.
MEPs in fine call on Member States to gradually lift their border controls as the containment measures are lifted.
They also want the Commission to play a coordinating role.
No coordination between Member States
On 16 May, Italy announced that it would reopen the country to all Europeans from 3 June. An announcement that prompted a reaction from the French Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, who deplored the fact that there is not enough coordination between member countries.
Asked about this, the European Commission, which presented a three-phase strategy on 13 May, admitted that it could coordinate, but “not force Member States to do so among themselves. It continues to organise meetings with them, the last one having taken place on 15 May.
For their part, the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Slovenia met on 18 May by videoconference to discuss a coordinated approach to the return of free movement.
Link to the declaration: https://bit.ly/3bFFLk8 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)