Schengen: MEPs to Discuss Options to Preserve Area without Border Control

Several member states have taken measures to halt the migrant influx headed to Northern and Central Europe by building fences and walls and introducing border controls. File photo, BGNES

The EU Parliament is set to discuss migration and to explore options to preserve the Schengen area amidst tensions among member states over the influx of migrants.

Cooperation with Turkey and the application of last year's agreement with the country will also be on the agenda of the session beginning now, with EU officials having criticized Ankara for failing to contain the influx as it said it was committed to doing in December.

Turkey is to receive EUR 3 B to curb the flow into Europe, but reports have emerged it might
ask for additional funding.

Seven countries have introduced in the past few months measures which include border controls, thus effectively ceasing to implement the agreement.

Signed in 1995, the Schengen agreement instituted passport-free travel among EU member states and several non-EU members (like Switzerland, Norway, and Iceland). Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania are yet to join.

The migrant crisis which peaked last year, with the conflict in Syria escalating but also with hundreds of thousands from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere heading to Europe, has sparked a debate on whether those arriving to the continent should be granted passage to their final destinations, usually Germany or Sweden.

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