The European Commission (EC) proposed to reform the Schengen space, taking into account the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the migration crisis on the border of the EU countries and Belarus. This is stated in the document published on the official website of Eurocomy.
“The proposed changes are aimed at strengthening coordination within the EU, will allow States to obtain improved tools to confront the difficulties in managing the general external borders of the EU, as well as internal borders in the Schengen space,” the text of the document says.
In the context of the migration crisis, like the situation on the border of Belarus with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, the European Commission proposes to reduce the number of existing checkpoints, strengthen the EU External Border Protection Measures, as well as consider refugee applications for asylum directly on the border refugee territory.
In addition, the countries of the European Union to conclude or update bilateral readmission agreements, to establish more efficient cooperation between the law enforcement bodies in border areas – this will allow to deport illegal migrants not beyond the EU, and in that European country from which the intruder arrived.
Also also members of the EC offered to minimize the introduction of any restrictions on movement within the Schengen zone. Since 2015, a number of EU countries have introduced temporary control on the boundaries within Schungn due to the migration crisis of 2015, terrorist threats and coronavirus pandemics. The EC proposed to streamline this procedure and introduce similar restrictions by the general decision of the EU Council, if we are talking about a common threat.
“According to our today’s sentences, we will ensure that the limitations on the borders were only an extreme measure, after conducting a general assessment of the situation and only for the required period,” the Europeanomissar stated on the internal affairs of Ilva Johanson.
In early November, President of France Emmanuel Macron declared the intention of Paris to initiate Shengen’s reform. According to him, the first priority will be the introduction of the political department of Shengen, similar to that exists in the euro area. The second priority of Macron called the creation of a mechanism for emergency support for European borders in case of crisis.