Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Pros and cons of the Schengen Area

On June 14, 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Schengen agreement. Approved by the then members of the European Economic Community (EEC)-Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, "these countries reached an agreement to abolish the borders between the member countries of the European Union (EU) and all European citizens can move freely throughout the Community.

On March 26, 1995 entered into force really well for these five countries as well as for Spain and Portugal, who had joined the then European Community in 1986. The free movement of EU citizens has several advantages such as the abolition of checks at internal borders, harmonization of procedures in the different customs, a common policy on visas for short stays.

Moreover, the Schengen cooperation established at the borders allows full mobility of EU citizens and streamline all procedures related to non-EU, instead of requesting a visa for each European country who want to visit, we simply request a single license. When a country of the Schengen external border controls, is to protect all the countries that are part of the agreement and that since this year has introduced a code of common visa for all Member States.

The free movement of persons is one of the fundamental freedoms of the EU along with that of capital, labor and goods. This also facilitates any entrepreneurial business community to create and project its international activity. In short, it allows market liberalization. The free movement of persons implies a lack of control over migration flows within the EU.

The lack of a clear common law regarding immigration allows an immigrant to legalize their situation in a country to reside in another. Similarly, illegal immigration will just cross a border to access any member. The more developed countries of the EU have experienced a massive influx of people from excluded sectors of society, from the most deprived nations.

Drug trafficking, white slavery and all kinds of criminal activity and faces no customs controls. So, carry out their activities at international level it is much easier. Terrorists can easily escape the forces of the law by jumping from one country to another, looking for a place where political pressure is lighter.

Currently, the countries participating in this agreement are Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Greece, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Finland , Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland.

These states do not correspond exactly with the current membership of the EU. UK and Ireland have not signed, and non-EU countries such as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland, forming part of the agreement. Despite not having approved, both Ireland and the United Kingdom accept the free movement of EU citizens, making it possible to enter these countries without a passport to be a community resident.

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