Meeting in Luxembourg on Friday 13 June, the interior ministers of the EU27 and associated countries will commit to strengthening the Schengen area of free movement as part of the 40th anniversary of the area, which now has 29 members, including non-EU countries (Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein).
They will approve a seven-point declaration in which they are expected to commit to taking all “appropriate measures to ensure an attractive and secure Schengen area for mobility, trade, competitiveness and tourism, and to ensure it remains a fundamental enabler of the single market”, according to a draft dated 2 June.
Furthermore, “We will defend the unfettered free movement of persons, which lies at the core of our Schengen policies, by ensuring that the reintroduction of internal border controls remains a measure of last resort”, the ministers are expected to declare, given that around ten Member States currently apply controls of varying degrees of strictness at their internal borders, some since 2015.
“We will take all appropriate measures, whether they are Schengen instruments or otherwise related to them, with respect to external border management, secondary movements, migration, the return of those illegally staying as well as the prevention and combating of offline and online cross-border crime, terrorism, as well as emerging threats”, the draft declaration goes on to say.
On 14 June 1985, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands signed an agreement in Schengen (a Luxembourgish town bordering Germany and France) on the gradual abolition of their internal border controls.
As of 2025, more than 450 million Europeans are living in the area, including two million people who cross internal borders every day. “Boosting competitiveness, Schengen facilitates intra-EU trade, which exceeded €4,100 billion in 2024, with the share of intra-EU exports being significantly higher than the share of international exports in most Member States”, the draft points out.
The ministers are also expected to highlight the “complex threats which include foreign information manipulation and interference, the instrumentalisation of migration and other hybrid activities” facing the Schengen countries, such as “rapid digitalisation [and] criminals and terrorists [who] are increasingly taking advantage of emerging technologies and tools”.
They are also expected to emphasise that it is the Schengen countries that decide “who may enter Europe, not smugglers or hostile external actors instrumentalising vulnerable people. We will refuse entry and prevent unauthorised border crossings to those who have no right to enter, and return those who have no right to stay, in a humane and dignified manner. We recognise that the protection of external borders using all available tools contributes to the security of the entire Schengen area”.
They will also undertake to strengthen the external dimension of Schengen “through a comprehensive approach, including an effective visa policy, border management and effective cooperation with third countries on return and readmission, with the aim of fostering mutually beneficial partnerships”.
The declaration will also mention Cyprus’s accelerated efforts to fulfil all the criteria required for integration in the Schengen area. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)