Schengen area

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The Schengen area

Schengen area or Schengen area , Schengen area or Schengen area , outside of the legal language often also Schengen zone , describes, especially in everyday language, the community of those states under which systematic border controls generally no longer take place. Customs controls, especially between EU and non-EU countries, are still possible. The rules that apply at the external and internal borders of the Schengen area - including random checks on persons and systematic checks on persons for special occasions - do not result from the provisions on the Schengen area, but from theSchengen Borders Code .

term

The term goes back to Schengen, when the Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 , which was the first step towards the abolition of internal border controls in Europe. This was followed by the Schengen Implementation Agreement of 1990 and the transition from originally international agreements to European Union law on the so-called Schengen acquis on May 1, 1999.

The term, though often used, is vague. It has not yet become a legal term in German law. In German federal law, the term appears only once in Section 69 AufenthV , but is not explained there. The term is used more frequently in European documents, but only legally defined for the first time in the visa agreements concluded between the EU and smaller third countries between 2010 and 2016

Area without internal frontiers, comprising the territory of the Member States of the Union with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, which fully apply the Schengen acquis.

This definition reflects the view of Union law, which, however , was obsolete with regard to the member states of the Union even before the first visa agreement in 2010, as the European Union had previously concluded agreements with non-EU member states that agreed to apply Schengen - have committed their holdings and have thus become part of the Schengen area. The feature of the area without internal borders is also problematic , because the national borders as such have not been eliminated, only the systematic control of cross-border traffic. Even the wording area without internal border controls would not be entirely correct, as customs controls continue to be carried out within the Schengen area between EU member states and non-EU member states. B. between Germany and Switzerland. In addition, some states do not dispense with border controls in their entire territory; France and the Netherlands e.g. B. not in the parts of the country outside Europe.

The current definition for the Schengen area would be :

Area without systematic checks on persons at the internal borders of those states that fully apply the Schengen acquis, with the exception of the excluded parts of the territory of a state.

Areas of the Schengen area

Based on the feature of the elimination of identity checks at internal borders in application of the Schengen acquis, the following countries and areas belong to the Schengen area:

Iceland and Norway apply the Schengen acquis through an association agreement with the EU of 18 May 1999.

After the Swiss declared their approval of the Association Agreement with the EU and the EC on the Schengen area in June 2005, Switzerland has been implementing the Schengen acquis since December 12, 2008.

Liechtenstein has been a user of the Schengen acquis since December 19, 2011.

Spain and the United Kingdom announced on December 31, 2020 that they were aiming for Gibraltar to join the Schengen area. With the admission of Gibraltar, the external Schengen border will shift to the ports and the international airport of Gibraltar.

Excluded parts of the territory of the Member States

Some states do not belong to the Schengen area with their entire territory. The following exclusions and special features exist:

France and the Netherlands

Non-European areas of France and the Netherlands (marked in red) do not belong to the Schengen area

France and the Netherlands have already determined in the Schengen Implementation Agreement of 1990 that “only the European territory of the French Republic” (France) or “only the territory of the Reich in Europe” (Netherlands) belong to the Schengen area (Article 138 of the Schengen Implementation Agreement ).

The non-European overseas territories of France (namely Clipperton , French Southern and Antarctic Lands , French Guiana , French Polynesia , Guadeloupe , Martinique , Mayotte , New Caledonia , Réunion , Saint Barthélemy , Saint-Martin , Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and Wallis and Futuna ) include thus not to the Schengen area.

The special municipalities of the Netherlands in the Dutch Caribbean Bonaire , Saba and Sint Eustatius as well as the autonomous countries Aruba , Curaçao and Sint Maarten are not part of the Schengen area.

Spain

Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa

In the final act of the accession agreement, Spain achieved a special status for its two cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla , which is why they cannot be regarded as part of the Schengen area.

According to III No. 1 of the Final Act of the Accession Agreement of November 27, 1990, Spain is allowed to maintain the visa-free small border traffic of Moroccans from the provinces of Tetuán and Nador with Ceuta and Melilla. For Moroccans from the rest of Morocco, Spain is still only allowed to issue visas for these two cities. Otherwise, the entry regulations for the Schengen area apply (see now also Article 41 of the Schengen Borders Code ).

For this reason, Spain continues to carry out checks of identity and documents on the ship and air connections originating from Ceuta and Melilla and exclusively destined for the Spanish mainland. Spain also controls ship and air connections from Ceuta and Melilla to other countries. The other plazas de soberanía , on the other hand, are part of the Schengen area.

The Canary Islands are also part of the Schengen area. They also belong to the customs area of the European Union, but not to the tax area for excise duties and VAT . When entering from these areas there is therefore a customs control.

Greece

Mount Athos

The Mount Athos enjoys in the Constitution of Greece the status of an autonomous region that can not be accessed by anyone. In the final act of the accession agreement with Greece, this is not taken into account by a formal exclusion from the Schengen area, but only by passing on the special national regulations. Literally it says in Section II No. 5 of the Final Act:

The contracting parties recognize that the special regulation for Mount Athos guaranteed by Article 105 of the Greek Constitution and by the Charter of Mount Athos is exclusively spiritual and religious; they will therefore ensure that this special arrangement is taken into account in the application and subsequent development of the provisions of the 1985 and 1990 conventions.

This special status does not justify viewing the border between Mount Athos and the rest of Greece as an external Schengen border . Formally, Mount Athos is part of the Schengen area, even though personal controls take place at its borders due to the religiously based access restrictions. Mount Athos belongs to the customs area of the European Union, but not to the tax area for excise duties and VAT. When entering from this area, there is therefore a customs control.

Denmark

According to Article 5 of the Accession Agreement with Denmark, the abolition of border controls does not apply to the Faroe Islands and not to Greenland . These areas are therefore not part of the Schengen area.

Norway

According to Article 14 of the Association Agreement, Norway has not adopted the Schengen acquis for Svalbard (Spitzbergen) . This means that Svalbard is not part of the Schengen area.

No member states of the Schengen area

Of the EU member states, Bulgaria , Croatia , Romania and Cyprus are not yet fully users of the Schengen acquis; they are not yet part of the Schengen area. In order to adopt the entire Schengen acquis, certain conditions are necessary. This includes the commissioning of the further developed person and property search system ( Schengen information system of the second generation - SIS II ) and the successful completion of an evaluation process in which the requirements for the full application of the Schengen acquis are checked. Only then will the political decision be made about full application of Schengen and the abolition of internal border controls.

Andorra , Monaco , San Marino and Vatican City do not belong to the Schengen area. Regardless of the Schengen rules, there are no border controls with neighboring countries France, Spain and Italy for other reasons.

The United Kingdom (with the exception of Gibraltar) and Ireland are not fully users of the Schengen acquis and are therefore not part of the Schengen area. They only apply the Schengen acquis to a limited extent. The EU Council of Ministers approved a corresponding application by these states for increased cooperation between the police and the judiciary in criminal matters, in the fight against drugs and in the Schengen Information System (SIS). However, border controls were not abolished. The EU member Ireland has waived its membership in the Schengen area because of the close ties with Northern Ireland with the common travel area , in which border controls between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland do not take place, because otherwise it would have border controls with Northern Ireland need to introduce.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ English Schengen area , French espace Schengen , Spanish espacio Schengen , Italian spazio Schengen , Dutch Schengenruimte
  2. ↑ English Schengen territory , French territoire Schengen , Spanish territorio Schengen , Italian territorio Schengen , Dutch Schengengrondgebied
  3. ↑ Regarding the Solomon Islands : Agreement between the European Union and the Solomon Islands on the exemption from the visa requirement for short stays of October 7, 2016 (PDF; 385 kB), regarding Tuvalu : Agreement between the European Union and Tuvalu on the exemption from the visa requirement for short stays of July 1, 2016 (PDF; 375 kB) and regarding the Marshall Islands : Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of the Marshall Islands on the exemption from the visa requirement for short stays of June 27, 2016 , (PDF; 454 kB).
  4. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Schengen Agreement - Iceland and Norway , accessed on April 13, 2020.
  5. ↑ Agreement with the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway on the association of the two states in the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis (OJ L 176 of 10 July 1999, p. 36).
  6. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Schengen Agreement - Switzerland , accessed on April 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ Decision of the Council of October 25, 2004 on the signature - on behalf of the European Community - of the Agreement between the European Union, the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on the association of the Swiss Confederation in the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis and the provisional application of certain provisions of this Agreement (2004/860 / EC) , accessed April 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ Liechtenstein's accession to the Schengen acquis , (PDF; 2.89 MB), ABl. L 160 of June 18, 2011, accessed April 13, 2020.
  9. ^ Agreement with Spain: Gibraltar joins Schengen area , faz.net of December 31, 2020.
  10. ↑ Chief Minister's Statement - The New Year's Eve 'In-Principle' Agreement: A Post Brexit Deal for Gibraltar - 946/2020 ( English ) Government of Gibraltar. December 31, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.
  11. ↑ See Agreement on the Accession of the Kingdom of Spain to the Agreement on the Implementation of the Schengen Agreement of June 14, 1995 between the Governments of the States of the Benelux Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic, signed in Schengen on June 19, 1990 the gradual dismantling of controls at the common borders, which the Italian Republic acceded to with the agreement of June 25, 1991 signed in Paris on November 27 , 1990 ( Federal Law Gazette 1993 II p. 1902, 1918 ).
  12. ↑ a b Customs: Travel within the Union - areas with special regulations , accessed on April 20, 2020.
  13. ↑ See Agreement on the Accession of the Hellenic Republic to the Agreement on the Implementation of the Schengen Agreement of June 14, 1985 between the Governments of the States of the BENELUX Economic Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic, signed in Schengen on June 19, 1990 the gradual abolition of controls at the common borders, to which the Italian Republic acceded with the agreement signed in Paris on November 27, 1990, and the Portuguese Republic and the Kingdom of Spain with the agreement signed in Bonn on June 25, 1991 of November 6 1992 ( BGBl. 1996 II pp. 2542, 2549 ).
  14. ↑ See the Agreement on the Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Agreement on the Implementation of the Schengen Agreement of June 14, 1985 on the Gradual Elimination of Controls at Common Borders, signed in Schengen on June 19, 1990 , of December 19, 1999 ( BGBl. 2000 II pp. 1106, 1108 ).
  15. ↑ See agreement between the Council of the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway on the association of the last two states in the implementation, application and development of the Schengen acquis of May 18, 1999 ( Federal Law Gazette 2000 II p. 1106, 1122 ).
  16. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Schengen Agreement - Bulgaria, Romania, Cyprus and Croatia , accessed on April 13, 2020.
  17. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Schengen Agreement - Andorra and San Marino , accessed on April 13, 2020.
  18. ↑ Federal Foreign Office, Schengen Agreement - Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom , accessed on April 13, 2020.