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This
month marks the 20th anniversary of the Schengen Acquis, an agreement,
first signed by 5 EU Member States, namely
Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
This agreement has led today to the removal of internal borders
between these and 10 further signatories.
The
Schengen Acquis was signed in the Luxembourg village of Schengen, which
lies on the borders of Luxembourg, France and Germany. Full implementation
of the Treaty began 10 years later in July 1995 opening an era of
unrestricted travel for millions of people.
The
need for improved police co-operation to off-set security deficits caused
by the abolition of border controls was recognized by the agreement.
The Schengen police co-operation measures provide for mutual
assistance and direct information exchange between police services,
cross-border surveillance and pursuit of suspects, improved communication
links and information exchange via central law-enforcement agencies.
Today
13 EU member states are party to the Schengen agreements. While Ireland
and the United Kingdom only participate in certain aspects of the Schengen
agreement, border controls in the 10 new member states that joined the EU
on 1 May 2004 will not be abolished before 2007. The accession treaty
signed by the new member states stipulates that they have to fulfil common
standards with regards to professional standards of border control and
overall law enforcement capacities before they may fully participate in
the Schengen treaty.
Two
non-EU States, namely Iceland and Norway, are fully subscribed to the
Schengen agreement. In addition, negotiations on the accession of
Switzerland to the Schengen agreement have only recently been concluded.
EuroCOP
pays tribute to the start of an era signifying intensified co-operation
between Europe’s police forces in the fight against international crime
brought about by the Schengen accords 20 years ago. The instruments
provided by the Schengen agreements, such as joint police stations in
border regions and the Schengen Information System, SIS, have proven to be
the most efficient instruments available to police services in Europe for
cross border operational cooperation.
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