Open Duits visumbeleid 2000-2003 was inbreuk op Verdrag van Schengen (en)

Germany's lax visa system which allowed thousands of eastern Europeans into the country between 2000 and 2003 has breached EU law, justice commissioner Franco Frattini i has said.

According to reports in several German media this morning, Mr Frattini told MEPs in the European Parliament's justice committee that the country's so-called 'visa affair' contravened the Schengen Agreement and therefore EU law.

The Schengen Agreement came into effect in 1995 and established a borderless zone among its signatories and an agreed set of common rules for operating the Schengen area.

These include a set of operational instructions on the conditions for entering the territory of the member states concerned and detailed procedures and rules for carrying out checks.

According to FT Deutschland, Mr Frattini told MEPs that Germany breached EU law on two accounts: by insufficiently checking the financial means of those applying for visas and failing to check if the visa applicants ever intended to return to their home country.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports that the commission as a body is unlikely to say any more on the matter this week as the standpoint would have to be approved by the whole college of commissioners.

Mr Frattini also told MEPs that the current visa rules in Germany, in place since October last year, are still being examined.

Insurance documents

The affair started when German visa rules were liberalised to make it easier for citizens of new democratic states in eastern Europe to enter the EU.

Presentation of a specialised insurance documents was in some cases enough to obtain a visa and enter the country.

The opposition in Germany has claimed the lax visa rules allowed an influx of prostitutes, drug dealers and gangsters from former Soviet states - particularly Ukraine.

Common visa policy

The EU's open border (Schengen) rules have removed all internal border controls and introduced a common visa policy in most EU countries.

Having a valid visa for one of the Schengen states automatically includes the right to stay up to three months in all the other Schengen countries.

Full Schengen members include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden (but not Ireland or the UK) as well as Iceland and Norway (not EU members).

The 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 do not yet fully participate in Schengen.