Members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) on Thursday 4 June called on Schengen area Member States to return as soon as possible to free movement without internal border controls before EU home affairs ministers discuss the issue at their level on 5 June.
By broadly adopting, by a margin of 53 votes to 6 with 6 abstentions, the resolution tabled by LIBE president Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, Spain), they also called on member countries to lift their measures in a coordinated way where the health situation allows, even though not all countries are following the same pace of decision-making.
The resolution calls on Member States to return to normal quickly, even though MEPs dropped their call for the immediate reopening of internal borders, which was included in the original text. They also say they “regret” that Member States have responded to the pandemic by closing their borders.
In particular, Parliament expressed “concern at the current situation regarding the internal border controls put in place by so many Member States and the various other measures taken, which include the total or partial closure of borders or their closure to certain types of travellers, including EU citizens or nationals from non-Member States residing in the territory of the Member States”.
Members also lamented the “very serious impact of these measures on individuals and businesses, including the tourism and seasonal work sectors”.
According to them, Member States have “hardly justified in their official notifications under the Schengen Borders Code why border control is an appropriate means of limiting the spread of Covid-19”. More targeted restrictions applicable at the regional level, including in cross-border regions, would have been “more appropriate and less intrusive”.
The text also deplores “the collateral consequences of border controls at certain internal borders, such as excessive waiting times without adequate hygiene facilities and without sufficient physical distancing, thus creating health risks”.
The resolution also mentions other issues, such as the extension of the free movement area to Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, which is expected to be the subject of a swift decision by the EU Council, say MEPs. Several elected representatives, particularly in the French EPP delegation, had tried to remove this message.
Finally, MEPs believe that this crisis has justified the need for new Schengen reform and governance. The Commission should theoretically propose reform as part of its forthcoming Pact on Migration.
“Now that the pandemic is slowing down in Europe, we need to be clear: free movement must be resumed under conditions that are as safe as possible. If there is no Schengen, there is no recovery” the president of LIBE reacted earlier in a statement. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)