A Europe Without Borders The 'Schengen Zone'

Jan 6, 2007
6 minutes read time

The Schengen Treaty eliminates immigration checkpoints along the borders of participating European countries. Now 26 countries have signed on, including three non-European Union states. Will this treaty serve as a model for the stalled political union of a core Europe?

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In November 1973, my employer in Düsseldorf, Germany, sent me to a printing company near London to deliver some 200,000 return envelopes that were to be stitched into a magazine we published. The editorial work on the magazine was done in Germany, but because of lower costs and other considerations, the printing was done in England. On my trip, I drove a small delivery van stuffed with boxes of envelopes. When I reached the Dutch-German border near Arnhem, I had to show my passport to enter the Netherlands. I also had to pay a transit security deposit for the envelopes, since I told customs officials I would be taking them to England and not delivering them in the Netherlands. When I reached the Dutch coast for the ferry trip over to England, I again had to show my passport as I left the Netherlands. I also did some more paperwork for Dutch customs to get my security deposit back. Today I sometimes cross the Dutch-German border at the very same point as I did some 33 years ago. What a remarkable difference there is today! There are no immigration or customs officials checking passports at a booth on the autobahn. Instead, you just slow down a bit from the high speeds allowed in Germany to the 120 kilometers an hour (about 75 miles an hour) allowed in the Netherlands on the freeway and continue on your way. What makes crossing the border today so different? Of course, one reason is what the European Union (EU) has become in the last 30 years. Goods can be bought and sold easily across national borders as long as they are not subject to restrictions (most are not). The other difference, though, is the Schengen Treaty, which eliminates immigration checkpoints along borders of countries that are signatories. The countries participating in the Schengen Treaty comprise the Schengen zone. That zone may not be as well known as the eurozone (for Europe's common currency, the euro), but it has been in existence several years longer. Background of the Schengen Treaty In 1985, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the Benelux countries signed a treaty to eliminate border controls among them. The location for the treaty signing was symbolic—aboard the ship Princesse Marie-Astrid on the Moselle River near the town of Schengen, located in Luxembourg on the border with France and Germany. The treaty went into effect 10 years later, and the number of countries having signed the treaty has now increased to 26, including three non-EU states, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. There is no requirement for EU member states to sign the treaty. The Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom are not signatories and are unlikely to sign anytime soon. To date, 15 of the signatories have implemented the treaty, comprising the current Schengen zone. Each Schengen country has the responsibility to provide border controls for its non-Schengen external borders. In exchange for fulfilling this obligation, there are no border or immigration controls on the movement of people within the Schengen zone when they travel from one Schengen country directly to another. That is why my trips today from Germany to the Netherlands (and elsewhere within the Schengen zone) have become so convenient. All Schengen member countries have external borders, even if they are landlocked. Luxembourg is an example of a landlocked Schengen country, and the Czech Republic and Switzerland will be as well, once they implement the treaty sometime in the next two years. Luxembourg's land borders are all joint borders with Schengen countries, but it also has an international airport. Luxembourg fulfills its Schengen responsibility by ensuring that all non-Schengen visitors who enter Luxembourg via its airport have an appropriate visa for the Schengen zone. Switzerland's participation in the Schengen Treaty is an interesting development for a country that prides itself on its neutrality. Thousands of Germans cross the German-Swiss border every day to get to their jobs, and Swiss shoppers frequently head for France, Italy and Germany to purchase items at lower prices in the eurozone. The prospect of having strict border controls on travelers across its borders to the surrounding Schengen zone was a looming long-term headache that is now solved by Switzerland's impending implementation of the treaty. The Schengen treaty also permits its participating countries to suspend implementation for a short time if a country deems the suspension necessary for national security. Just last summer Germany suspended the Schengen Treaty during the 2006 World Cup tournament, and France did likewise in 2004 on the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Schengen countries can also make individual customs inspections within their own borders as long as there are no general passport inspections on joint Schengen borders. I occasionally see German border police checking vehicles at rest stops along the autobahn after they have crossed into Germany from the Netherlands. Dutch drug laws are more liberal than Germany's and some people attempt to return to Germany with drugs obtained in the Netherlands. The Schengen Treaty and implications for the European Union No doubt many people equate the Schengen Treaty with the European Union. In fact, however, the Schengen Treaty was originally not an EU treaty. Instead, it was signed independently of the EU by five countries, all of which also happened to be EU members. Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands proceeded with the Schengen agreement at a time when no consensus could be reached within the broader EU on eliminating internal border controls. Later EU agreements have essentially adopted the provisions of the Schengen Treaty, now making it in a sense an EU accord. The success of the Schengen Treaty among its original participants may have prodded the EU into adopting its provisions. The Schengen agreement shows that EU members may enter into treaties among themselves when there is no EU-wide consensus. There is no EU prohibition on doing so. The drive for full political union of Europe may cause some EU nations to strike a Schengen-like agreement. The EU is largely divided into two groups. One group, including the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom, would prefer to see the European Union be an enhanced free-trade zone. The other group is interested in achieving full political union, including the founding members of the EU's forerunner, the European Economic Community. With the addition of two more countries on January 1, 2007 (Romania and Bulgaria), the current EU decision-making process has become even more cumbersome. The single nation veto power remains the big obstacle to streamlining the EU's structure—something last year's failed EU constitution was designed to do. With Germany assuming the six-month rotating EU presidency this month, many pin their hopes on Chancellor Angela Merkel's negotiating skill to get the stalled constitution back on the EU agenda. If she is unsuccessful, talk will surely surface again about the need for a "Europe of two speeds" or a "core Europe" of nations willing to proceed on their own toward full political unity. Bible prophecy foretells a union of 10 kings forming a powerful political force at the time of the end (Daniel 2:42-44; Revelation 17:12). It will arise from within Europe and likely be much different from the existing structure within the EU. How it moves from the present configuration to the final prophesied form is yet to be determined. The Schengen Treaty of 1985 shows that it can be done. Its greatest accomplishment may be the precedent it sets for this looming monumental reconfiguration of Europe. WNP
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Paul Kieffer

Paul Kieffer is a United Church of God minister in Germany.