EU considers border checks
Source: Agencies |
December 14, 2011, Wednesday
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EUROPEAN officials were debating yesterday whether to allow some temporary border controls in the so-called "borderless" free-travel zone that covers 25 nations - a discussion prompted by worries about migrants fleeing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa.
Passport-free travel in the "Schengen zone" is considered one of the European Union's signal achievements, easing the lives of ordinary citizens. But what applies to EU citizens also applies to migrants: Once they manage to enter the Schengen zone, they can travel to any of the 25 countries in the area without showing passports or any other documents.
Earlier this year, some nations, including France and Denmark, threatened to re-introduce border checks to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from North Africa, tens of thousands of whom fled to Italy. Other main transit routes into the borderless zone include Turkey and Greece, as well as the states of the former Yugoslavia.
The EU plans to work closely with the governments of North African and East European nations to allow people to come to Europe through legal channels.
"We have presented a strategy which bases EU policy on cooperation with third countries ... in order to facilitate legal migration," said Michele Cercone, spokesman for the EU's Home Affairs commissioner.
Officials said interior ministers from the EU's 27 members would focus on establishing uniform criteria for "exceptional situations" in which countries could impose border checks.
Passport-free travel in the "Schengen zone" is considered one of the European Union's signal achievements, easing the lives of ordinary citizens. But what applies to EU citizens also applies to migrants: Once they manage to enter the Schengen zone, they can travel to any of the 25 countries in the area without showing passports or any other documents.
Earlier this year, some nations, including France and Denmark, threatened to re-introduce border checks to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants from North Africa, tens of thousands of whom fled to Italy. Other main transit routes into the borderless zone include Turkey and Greece, as well as the states of the former Yugoslavia.
The EU plans to work closely with the governments of North African and East European nations to allow people to come to Europe through legal channels.
"We have presented a strategy which bases EU policy on cooperation with third countries ... in order to facilitate legal migration," said Michele Cercone, spokesman for the EU's Home Affairs commissioner.
Officials said interior ministers from the EU's 27 members would focus on establishing uniform criteria for "exceptional situations" in which countries could impose border checks.
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