The European Commission on Tuesday asked nine countries in the Schengen area, including France, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy, Denmark and Norway to phase out internal border checks, which have been reinstated in some cases for years.
The Commission urged these countries, plus Slovenia and The Netherlands to “work towards phasing out and gradually lifting internal border controls, making full use of available alternative measures and regional cooperation.”
The Commission believes internal checks are no longer needed because of new regulations on migration and new tools that “enhance oversight of movements across the EU’s external borders”, such as the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and the upcoming European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
“The European Union is putting in place the largest reform of our migration management system… We are rolling out the most modern border management systems in the world. With these conditions in place, Member States are in the position to work towards phasing out controls at internal borders,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration.
Under EU law, Schengen countries can reintroduce internal border checks in the event of serious threats to public policy or internal security. Where controls are reinstated, Member States have to take measures to limit negative consequences on cross-border communities, and ensure the long-term functioning of the free movement area.
Controls at internal borders should in principle last no more than two years, but extensions are possible. If they continue for more than 12 months, the Commission has to issue an “opinion” — a non-binding legal act — which assesses whether they are really necessary and proportional, and consider alternative measures to limit impacts on cross-border commuters and travellers.
Germany has had some sort of controls on at least part of its border almost continuously in place since 2015.
In its opinion on Germany the Commission said “Despite the efforts by the German authorities to mitigate the impact of internal border control, the Commission has received many complaints from citizens and businesses that indicate the reintroduction of internal border control negatively affects them.
“Especially at the German-Luxembourgish, German-Polish and the German-Dutch borders, the reintroduction of internal border controls have caused difficulties to local border communities, in particular cross-border workers.”
The Commission mentions among the factors that justify the gradual lifting of internal border checks the EES, the new digital border system that keeps digital records of entries and exits of non-EU nationals at external borders, and the upcoming ETIAS, which will require short-term travellers to Schengen area to register and pay a fee before departure. ETIAS is due to be implemented by the end of 2026.
EES and ETIAS are “significantly improving the monitoring of who enters and leaves the Union and when and where crossings are taking place,” the EU executive said.
The Commission also mentioned the upcoming application of the Pact on Migration and Asylum, including tougher rules on returns.
It also recommended internal border checks are replaced by “effective alternatives” such as “non-systematic police checks or mobile biometric identification and vehicle tracking technologies”.
According to the EU Council website, the borderless Schengen area covers a total population of almost 450 million people. Every day around 3.5 million people cross the Schengen internal borders for work, study or visits, and almost 1.7 million people reside in one Schengen country while working in another.
The full list of countries that currently have internal controls in place is available here.
The recommendation does not concern Switzerland, which has reinstated border checks until 19 June because of the G7-summit in Evian, on the French side of Geneva’s lake.
Irregular border crossings into the EU detected by authorities fell by 40 percent in the first four months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to the EU’s border agency.
The bloc’s new EES automated system of border checks, which replaces passport stamps with a digital registration and the collection of facial images and fingerprints, officially became fully operational in April this year.
However it has still not been fully implemented in some ports, notably the juxtaposed borders between France and the UK and has caused long queues at some airports.
With reporting from AFP.
