Brussels, 27/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The French Presidency of the EU has announced that systematic controls of people at borders between Switzerland and the EU will officially come to an end on 12 December. Ministers of the interior attending the Mixed Committee (EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland) gave their approval on Thursday 27 November, without discussion, to Switzerland joining the Schengen area. Controls will only be lifted at Switzerland's land borders. Lifting airspace controls has been decided for 29 March 2009, a date that technically corresponds to the change to summer time. Specific measures with mobile patrols and 24 hour video surveillance will, nonetheless, be reintroduced with Liechtenstein, which is still not part of the Schengen area. Several EU member states had planned to push back Switzerland joining until after the referendum on extending the bilateral agreement on freedom of movement of people, planned on 8 February 2009. Free movement involves the possibility of all EU nationals being able to live and work in Switzerland and the latter's citizens being able to do so in the EU. Any threat to Bilateral 1 agreements in the event of a “no” vote would have serious consequences for Switzerland, given that these agreements focus on the suppression of technical barriers to trade, public procurement, land and air transport, farming, research and security and asylum cooperation (Schengen/Dublin). During a press conference, the commissioner for justice, freedom and security, Jacques Barrot, declared: “If the vote goes against, it will be a major problem for Switzerland because this would probably interrupt its participation in the Schengen area. I have confidence in the Swiss people”. (B.C./transl.rh)