Schengen Area The Schengen Area is the area comprising 26 European countries that have abolished passport and any other type of border control at their common borders, also referred to as internal borders. It mostly functions as a single country for international travel purposes, with a common visa policySchengen Visa Countries List The Schengen Visa is the representative of the collective of 26 European countries that have mutually decided to eliminate passport and immigration controls at their joint borders. Within the Schengen area, concurrently, the citizens of these 26 European countries are free to travel in and out of this zone as one single country sharing equal international travel rights. The citizens of the Schengen zone countries cherish the right to migrate internationally without any limitations, the basis of free movement, one of the basic human rights. The Schengen Area Member States: Schengen Visa Countries List Austria Belgium Czech republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Liechtenstein As an agreement, Schengen was signed among the five out of ten countries of the European Union members back then, on the 14th June 1985. However it was hardly possible to reach a compromise among all the members of the European member states into eliminating the border controls, therefore Schengen was established outside the European community at first. After five years of struggle, the Schengen Convention was added to the establishment proposing the abolition of internal borders and a mutual visa policy. The consensus revealed new rules entirely opposed to the ones within the EU community therefore the aftermath, the creation of the Schengen Area started from scratch on the 26th march 1995. The name came from a small village in Luxembourg, Schengen where the agreement was initially signed. As the number of countries entering the Schengen area was ever growing, with states signing up to join the Schengen area even to this day, the Agreement and the relating conventions got integrated into the European Union Law, effective immediately in 1999. The downside of the Schengen agreement and its relating conventions is that with alleviating the bureaucracy among the Schengen zone countries it consequently reinforced the external border control with the non-European countries as well as the fact that not being a part of the agreement meant not having a say in any amendment or regulation within the European Law. Under the Schengen agreement, travelling from one Schengen country to another is done without any passport and immigration controls or any other formalities previously required. However, the Schengen Area and the European Union are two completely different zones that shall not be misinterpreted..
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 12:55:57 +0000
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