EU Urges 9 Schengen Nations to Phase Out Internal Border Controls

(MENAFN) The European Commission fired a direct warning Tuesday at nine Schengen member states, calling on them to begin winding down prolonged internal border checks and shift toward smarter, less disruptive security alternatives — a move that puts Brussels on a collision course with governments that have maintained the controls for over a year.

Formal opinions were issued to Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, and Sweden, with the Commission scrutinizing whether their long-standing internal border controls remain necessary and proportionate under Schengen rules.

While the bloc stopped short of dismissing the security and migration pressures these countries face, it made its position unmistakably clear. "More efficient and effective alternatives to internal border controls are available," the Commission stated, pointing to risk-based police checks, mobile biometric identification, and advanced vehicle-tracking technologies as tools capable of addressing security concerns without fragmenting Europe's borderless travel zone.

The Commission further noted that many of the nine states already deploy non-systematic, intelligence-led controls that closely mirror traditional police checks — and argued these methods could be progressively scaled up to render hard border controls obsolete.

Beyond the legal and political dimensions, Brussels emphasized the real-world costs of prolonged checks, noting their inevitable spillover effects on neighboring countries, cross-border workers, businesses, and the fabric of regional cooperation.

Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen delivered the sharpest rebuke, invoking Schengen's foundational significance. "Schengen is one of Europe's greatest achievements. It symbolises freedom of movement for over 450 million people. Our opinions send a clear message: where controls are reintroduced, they must remain temporary and exceptional," she said.

The Commission's recommendations stop short of legally binding orders, but they pile significant institutional pressure on governments to chart a credible path toward lifting the controls — while deploying the full arsenal of alternative security measures and deepening cross-border cooperation in their place.

MENAFN02062026000045017169ID1111199469