The European Commission published, on Tuesday 16 May, a new report on the situation of the Schengen free movement area, which will be discussed on 8 June by the EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg.
It lists all the major facts that the area - of 27 countries now - has experienced in 2022, from the accession of Croatia, the rejection of Bulgaria and Romania, to population trends, from tourism to irregular migration. It also notes that Member States have introduced or extended internal border control measures on 28 occasions.
The Schengen area was “the most visited area in the world” in 2022, writes the Commission, with 585 million visitors out of the 900 million tourists who travelled worldwide.
However, this sharp increase in Schengen visa applications “has led to significant delays in the granting of appointments and in the processing of visa applications. In some cases, applicants pay up to €500 to agencies or individuals just to secure an appointment. In addition, Member States often provide inadequate and inaccurate information to visa applicants regarding the visa application process, which impacts the quality of the assessment of migration and security risks”, the report adds.
Member States should therefore deploy sufficient and appropriate staff in consulates to carry out the tasks related to the examination of applications, the Commission recommends.
The report also recalls that, although almost all third country nationals enter the EU through legal channels, irregular migration in 2022 reached its highest level since 2016, with 330,000 irregular border crossings reported by Frontex, an increase of 66% compared to 2021.
A notable increase in secondary irregular migration was observed along the Western Balkan route, which accounted for 43% of all irregular entries in 2022. The Central Mediterranean migration route was the second most important migration route and saw a 56% increase compared to 2021.
Internal border measures
As regards internal border controls, the report notes that Member States resorted in 2022 to the reintroduction or extension of internal border controls on 28 occasions, including 19 times in the case of the extension of long-term internal border controls in force since 2015.
Since October 2022, the Commission has been in close dialogue with Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden, as well as with the Member States affected by these controls, to remove these measures as soon as possible.
Since then, the lifting of controls by Austria and the Czech Republic at the border with Slovakia, and by Denmark at the border with Sweden, “shows that alternative measures are available and demonstrates the value of dialogue and exchange of best practice”.
Between April and May 2023, however, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden have again notified the Commission of the reintroduction of internal border controls for six months (from the end of April/mid-May to the end of October/mid-November 2023).
The Commission, which will launch a consultation with these Member States in order to identify the reasons for these internal border measures, thus promises once again to take the necessary action against them “if these internal border controls are prolonged in a way that is not necessary and proportionate, and not based on the existence of a new serious threat”.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/6wo (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)