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 The Schengen Agreement
I. History
The representatives of five EU member states (Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) signed the Schengen Agreement near Schengen on 14 June 1985. Five years later, the same countries signed the so-called Schengen Convention. The Convention established procedures required for the legal and technical implementation of the Agreement. The Treaty of Amsterdam of 02 October 1997 incorporated the Schengen Agreement into the European Union Treaties, effective as of 1 May 1999. An exception was made for the United Kingdom and Ireland. These two countries still carry out border controls. The protocol incorporating the Schengen developments also meant that the European Union became responsible for further legal development of the Schengen system. The European Court of Justice has already had occasion to rule on the interpretation of the Schengen Agreement.
II. Content
For the content of the Schengen Agreement and the Schengen Convention please see the 2nd link in the list given below. The following points are of interest here:
1. Citizens of member states that apply the Schengen Agreement completely may travel freely between these states, without being subject to border controls.
2. Third country nationals (i.e. citizens of countries which are not part of the Schengen system) may enter and remain in the other countries which fully implement the Schengen Agreement,
- if they have a valid visa from a country that fully implements the Schengen Agreement agree, that is not geographically limited, or,
- if they are from a country whose nationals do not require a visa to enter the Schengen area (see the 3rd link in the list below)
- Like the citizens of the Schengen area countries, they are not subject to internal border controls.
3. All citizens of third countries who have a valid residence permit for one of the Schengen countries and with a valid passport may travel to any of the other Schengen countries visa free for up to 3 months per half-year.
III. Countries participating in the Schengen Agreement
33 countries currently participate in the Schengen Agreement.
The great majority of these countries have fully implemented the Schengen Agreement:
- Austria, Belgium, Denmark (incl. Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden
A number of countries are in practice integrated into the system because they have an open border with a Schengen state:
- Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City
Other countries are about to become part of the Schengen system:
- border controls (not goods checks) will probably be dropped by the end of 2006 / early 2007 by: Liechtenstein, Switzerland
- border controls will probably not be dropped before the end of 2007 by: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
Finally, there is the exception made for the United Kingdam and Ireland, according to which they participate in the Schangen arrangements regarding criminal prosecution and police cooperation but maintain separate border controls.
IV. Example – How long can a third country national stay in the Schengen area?
Section 6 (1) sentence 1 no. 2 Residence Act: "A foreigner may be issued a Schengen visa for stays of up to three months per six-month period (short-term stay), if the requirements for issuance as stipulated in the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement and the appurtenant implementing regulations are fulfilled."
Of particular interest here are cases where a foreigner enters Germany from a country which does not require a visa (see the 3rd link in the list below). If he requires a visa, the authorities will already check whether the applicant satisfies the prerequisites of Section 6 Residence Act at the time the visa is issued.
X is a Chilean citizen (no visa requirement for the Schengen area) enters the Federal Republic of Germany from Chile on 1February 2005. On 1 March 2005 he then travels from Germany to Turkey (not at present a Schengen member state). From Turkey, he travels back to Germany on 1 June 2005. X has no particular residence title.
Since X does not have any other residence title, his stay is governed by Section 6 of the Residence Act. He may therefore stay in the Schengen area for a period of three months per half-year.
This example assumes, that three months is equivalent to a period of 90 days. This information may also be found on the German foreign ministry website.
X therefore has the following options on 1 July 2005:
X can stay in Germany until 29.08.2005, because only then does the 90-day period expire (30 days in June, 31 days in July, 29 days in August). The first month need not be taken into account since the three month interruption and the short month of February means that no more than 90 days come together within a period of six months.
However, if he wishes, he can leave Germany too. But, if he wishes to have the full 90 days at his disposal again, he has to stay in a non Schengen country for at least 3 months. If for example, he leaves Germany on 1 July, then re-enters the country on 1 September and stays the full ninety days (roughly to 30 November) he would have spent 121 days within the past 6 months inside the Schengen area (seen from 30 November, the 6 month time period starts on 1 June; X spent 30 days in the Schengen area in June, 30 days in September, 31 days in October and 30 days in November).
V. Links
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/WillkommeninD/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/Uebersicht.html
Information from the German foreign ministry on visas, the texts of the Schengen Agreement and the Schengen Convention, as well as visa application forms in various languages
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/WillkommeninD/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/Schengen.html
Information from the German foreign ministry on the Schengen Agreement
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/WillkommeninD/EinreiseUndAufenthalt/Schengen.html#t3
List of countries stating those whose nationals require a Schengen visa
http://www.eurovisa.info/
Information on the Schengen Agreement in English
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