Schengen Agreement Signed — 41 Years Ago

Borders Without Checkpoints

On June 14, 1985, representatives of five European countries — France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg — met on a riverboat near the small Luxembourg village of Schengen and signed an agreement to gradually abolish border controls between their countries. The Schengen Agreement was a bold experiment: could people move freely across international borders without showing passports? The idea was controversial, raising concerns about security and immigration, but the signing nations believed that the benefits of open movement — for trade, tourism, and the daily lives of ordinary people — outweighed the risks.

How the Schengen Zone Works

The Schengen Agreement took years to fully implement. The Convention that put it into practice was signed in 1990 and came into force in 1995. It created a zone where internal border checks were eliminated, but the external borders of the zone were strengthened and harmonized. Countries in the zone share visa policies — a Schengen visa allows travel throughout the zone — and cooperate on policing and security. Over time, more countries joined: today the Schengen Area includes 27 countries and around 420 million people. It covers most of the European Union plus a few non-EU members like Norway and Switzerland.

Tested by Crisis

Free movement became one of the most visible and popular achievements of European integration. For millions of Europeans, crossing a border became as simple as crossing a street. But the Schengen system came under intense pressure during the 2015 refugee crisis, when over a million migrants arrived in Europe. Several countries temporarily reintroduced border controls. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 saw borders close again across the continent. Critics have argued that truly open borders require deeper cooperation on policing and asylum policy than the Schengen system provides. Despite these strains, the zone has survived and remains a defining feature of life in Europe.