This situation means that non-EU Schengen Member States have few formally binding options to influence the design and development of Schengen rules; their options are effectively reduced to consent or withdrawal from the agreement. However, prior to the adoption of certain new laws, consultations are held with the countries concerned. [14] As the Schengen Agreement is now part of the acquis communautaire, it lost treaty status for EU members, which could only be amended in accordance with its provisions. Instead, changes will be made in accordance with the EU legislative process under the EU Treaties. [12] Ratification by the former signatories of the Agreement is not necessary to amend or repeal the former Schengen acquis in whole or in part. [13] Acts laying down the conditions for entry into the Schengen area are now adopted by a majority of EU legislative bodies. The new EU Member States do not sign the Schengen Agreement as such, but are required to implement the Schengen rules within the framework of already existing EU legislation, which any new entrant must accept. [Citation needed] Differences of opinion between Member States led to an impasse in the abolition of border controls within the Community, but in 1985 five of the then ten Member States – Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany – signed an agreement on the phasing out of common border controls. The agreement was signed on the ship Princess Marie-Astrid on the Moselle near the city of Schengen in Luxembourg[5], where the territories of France, Germany and Luxembourg meet. Three of the signatories, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, had already abolished common border controls within the framework of the Benelux Economic Union.

[Citation needed] In December 1996, two non-EU states, Norway and Iceland, signed an association agreement with the signatories to the agreement to become part of the Schengen area. Although this agreement never entered into force, both countries became members of the Schengen area after concluding similar agreements with the EU. [9] The Schengen Convention itself was not open for signature by non-EU states. [10] In 2009, Switzerland completed its formal accession to the Schengen area with the adoption of an Association Agreement by referendum in 2005. [11] The Schengen Agreement was signed independently of the European Union, partly because of the lack of consensus among EU Member States on whether or not the EU should abolish border controls[6], and partly because those who wanted to implement the idea did not want to wait for others (at the time, there was no enhanced cooperation mechanism). The agreement provided for a harmonisation of visa policy, which gives residents of border areas the freedom to cross borders outside fixed checkpoints, the replacement of passport controls with visual surveillance of vehicles at reduced speed and vehicle controls allowing vehicles to cross borders without stopping. [1] The Schengen Agreement and its implementing Convention were adopted in 1995 for only a few signatories, but just over two years later, at the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference, all the Member States of the European Union, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Ireland, had signed the Convention. During these negotiations, which culminated in the Treaty of Amsterdam, it was agreed to integrate the Schengen acquis[7] into the main body of EU law, as well as derogations for Ireland and the United Kingdom (which withdrew from the EU in 2020), which were to remain outside the Schengen area. [8] In 1990, the Convention was supplemented by the Schengen Convention, which proposed the complete abolition of systematic checks at internal borders and a common visa policy.

The Schengen area operates very similarly to a single state for international travel purposes, with external border controls for travellers entering and leaving the zone and common visas, but without internal border controls. It currently consists of 26 European countries with a population of over 400 million people and an area of 4,312,099 square kilometers (1,664,911 square miles). [2] Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden The Schengen Agreement (German: /ˈʃɛŋən/) is a treaty that led to the creation of the European Schengen Area, in which internal border controls were largely abolished. It was held on the 14th. It was signed in 1985 near the city of Schengen in Luxembourg by five of the ten Member States of the European Economic Community at the time. The most recent controls were temporarily reintroduced at the border from May 10, 2017 to May 14, 2017, during Pope Francis` visit to Fátima, Portugal. [17] Originally, the Schengen Treaties and the rules adopted on the basis thereof operated independently of the European Union. However, in 1999, they were transposed into EUROPEAN Union law by the Treaty of Amsterdam, while providing for derogations for the only two EU Member States that had remained outside the territory: Ireland and the United Kingdom (which withdrew from the EU in 2020).

Schengen is now a central element of EU law, and all EU Member States without opt-outs that have not yet joined the Schengen area are legally obliged to do so if the technical requirements are met. Several non-EU countries are included in the zone. [3] In 1990, the Convention was supplemented by the Schengen Convention, which proposed the abolition of internal border controls and a common visa policy. It was this agreement that created the Schengen area through the complete abolition of border controls between the Schengen Member States, the common visa requirement and police and judicial cooperation. [Citation needed]. . . .