May 2017: The Commission will publish a state of play of the functioning of the Schengen area
The news:
In May 2017, the European Commission i will provide a state of play of the functioning of the Schengen area.
The background:
The combination of serious deficiencies in the management of the external border by Greece at that time and the significant number of unregistered migrants and asylum seekers present in Greece who may have sought to move irregularly to other Member States i, created exceptional circumstances constituting a serious threat to public policy and internal security and endangering the overall functioning of the Schengen area. These exceptional circumstances led to the triggering of the safeguard procedure of Article 29 of the Schengen Borders Code and the adoption of the Council Recommendation on 12 May 2016 to maintain temporary proportionate controls at certain internal Schengen borders in Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Norway for a period of six months.
On 25 October 2016, the Commission proposed to allow Member States to maintain the temporary internal border controls at the same internal borders for a further period of 3 months, with stricter conditions and a detailed monthly reporting obligation on the outcome of the results for the Member States concerned. Despite the progressive stabilisation of the situation, the Commission considered that the conditions of the "Back to Schengen" Roadmap allowing for a return to a normally functioning Schengen area are yet entirely fulfilled. On 25 January, the Commission recommended the Council allows Member States to maintain the temporary controls for a further period of three months.
The sources:
Eighth biannual report on the functioning of the Schengen area
Communication from the commission - Back to Schengen - A Roadmap
FACTSHEET: The Schengen Rules Explained
AGENDA/17/1165
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