FEARS over terrorist threats have prompted France to re-establish border controls from November 1 until the end of April 2025- despite it being part of the EU’s Schengen border-free zone.
France has told the European Commission that controls will reappear at all of its land, air and sea borders with Spain, as well as with Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy
The Schengen Borders Code permits European Union countries to temporarily reinstate border controls ‘in the event of a serious threat to public order or internal security’.
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It does point out that such action should only be applied as a ‘last resort’ and in ‘exceptional situations’.
France recently applied border controls during the Paris Olympics which attracted millions of visitors from around the world.
A key platform of the EU is the free movement of people and goods through member countries, and within the Schengen area, more than 240 million people could move freely through member states without the need to go through border controls.
Germany was the first member state to implement the ‘security’ measure.
In September, it notified the European Commission of the decision to close its borders in the face of the ‘terrorist threat’ and ‘irregular immigration’.
“We are strengthening internal security and maintaining our hard line against irregular migration,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser at the time.
She also stated that ‘we will continue in this line’.
