Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council: Towards a stronger and more resilient Schengen area
Date: 2021-01-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: area of freedom, security and justice



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ROADMAP  






Roadmaps aim to inform citizens and stakeholders about the Commission's work in order to allow them to provide feedback and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are in particular invited to provide views on the Commission's understanding of the problem and possible solutions and to make available any relevant information that they may have. 






Title of the initiative




Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and to the Council: Towards a stronger and more resilient Schengen Area






Lead DG – responsible unit 




Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME), Borders and Schengen Unit (B1)






Likely Type of initiative




Communication






Indicative Planning




Q2 2021






Additional Information




https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/schengen_en 






This Roadmap is provided for information purposes only and its content might change. It does not prejudge the final decision of the Commission on whether this initiative will be pursued or on its final content. All elements of the initiative described by the Roadmap, including its timing, are subject to change.









A. Context, Problem definition and Subsidiarity Check






Context






Schengen is one of the biggest achievements of EU integration. It has both an important social as well as an economic value. It is a symbol of Europe’s interconnectedness and of the ties between European countries. At the same time, it enables the four freedoms to be exercised and contributes to the efficient functioning of the Single Market, and thus to the growth of the EU economy. It is also very popular amongst citizens, two-thirds of whom agreed in a 2018 Eurobarometer survey that Schengen is a major EU accomplishment. However, today we are confronted with a different reality than at the time of the creation of Schengen. Instability in Europe’s neighbourhood and beyond, the consequences of the high number of arrivals of irregular third country nationals during the 2015 refugee crisis, the COVID‑19 crisis and the terrorist threat, require reflection and follow-up.


In the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted in September 2020, the Commission announced that, building on experience from the multiple crises of the last five years, it would present a Strategy on the future of Schengen, which would include initiatives for a stronger and more complete Schengen. This will include a fresh way forward on the Schengen Borders Code (the Union code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders) that will also take into account the conclusions to be drawn from the negotiations on the Commission’s proposal of 2017 revising this instrument, as well as a review of the Schengen monitoring and evaluation mechanism. The Pact has also announced that the Commission would set up a Schengen Forum to build trust and increase cooperation in this area.


As a follow-up to the Pact, on 30 November 2020 the first Schengen Forum was organised with a view to, amongst others, kick off the political discussions feeding into the future Schengen Strategy. 






Problem the initiative aims to tackle 






Some of the aforementioned challenges have led to the reintroduction of internal border controls in a number of Member States and, in some cases, these have been renewed several times since 2015. Moreover, the alternative measures to internal border controls recommended by the Commission in the 2017 Recommendation on proportionate police checks have not lead to the expected results. 


At the same time, as shown in particular by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the reintroduction of border controls at the internal border has a significant negative impact on citizens’ lives and the economy and lead to initial uncoordinated measures by Member States. 


Finally, the Schengen evaluation mechanism – which is the key available tool for monitoring the implementation of the Schengen acquis by the Member States – has not proved to be sufficiently effective in evaluating the correct implementation of the Schengen acquis and for ensuring that improvements are effectively implemented.


All these developments have put the spotlight on the need to improve the Schengen governance structure and the tools available at EU level, both legislative and operational.






Basis for EU intervention (legal basis and subsidiarity check)






The applicable legal basis for the legislative initiatives that accompany this Strategy is the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and in particular the area of freedom, security and justice (Title V of Part Three). More specifically, Article 77 TFEU states that the Union shall develop a policy with a view to ensuring the absence of any controls on persons, whatever their nationality, when crossing internal borders. This will be the legal basis for the amendment of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399). Article 70 TFEU states that the Council may, on a proposal from the Commission, adopt the measures laying down the arrangements whereby Member States in collaboration with the Commission, conduct objective and impartial evaluation of the implementation of the policies related to the area of freedom, security and justice. This will be the legal basis for the amendment of the Schengen Evaluation Mechanism (Regulation (EU) 1053/2013). 


The strategy and actions foreseen in the Communication cannot be achieved by the Member States alone. 






B. What does the initiative aim to achieve and how






The overall objective of this initiative is to make the Schengen area stronger, more resilient and to restore the free movement of persons, which in the past years has been affected by frequent reintroductions of internal border controls. Schengen rules require an update to adapt them to evolving challenges. At the same time, stronger operational cooperation measures are needed, taken into account also the development of new technologies.   


The Communication will set out a comprehensive Schengen strategy, which should include a review of the relevant aspects of the Schengen legal framework.






C. Better regulation






Consultation of citizens and stakeholders






A public consultation on the strategy for the Schengen area, including the accompanying legislative proposals, will be carried out with the aim to depict what the Schengen area means for EU citizens and harness feedback on the way forward. In addition, targeted consultations of those stakeholders involved in the functioning of the Schengen area will be carried out in order to understand different perspectives and expectations from stakeholders. In particular, the Commission will address: Member States’ national authorities in the relevant fields; NGOs, industry, relevant Committees and groups of the European Parliament; relevant EU agencies. The consultations will be carried out by means of bilateral and multilateral meetings, interviews and questionnaires. 






 Evidence base and data collection






The Communication “Towards a stronger and more resilient Schengen Area” will rely on the consultation of all relevant stakeholders to gather quantitative and qualitative evidence to corroborate the preliminary findings and fill any existing information gaps. It will also built on previous studies and surveys, for instance the Special Eurobarometer 474 on the Schengen Area and the study from the European Parliament on “the cost of non–Schengen”. 


The Communication will describe possible initiatives and announce objectives and targets. Proposals resulting from this initiative, with significant expected impacts, will be subject to impact assessment(s), in line with the better regulation guidelines.