Don’t Touch My Schengen: standing up for free movement in the EU 40 years after the Schengen Agreement

The past decade and its crises have tested the limits of the European Union and, in this regard, Schengen has suffered some of the harshest blows. Forty years after its inception, the Schengen system is under massive pressure - and with it the rights EU citizens have come to take for granted. “Temporary” border checks, systematic questioning by political forces aiming at exacting electoral benefits out of antimmigration sentiments, vetoes to its enlargement, or the shutdown of borders during the COVID-19 crisis, serve as a reminder of the fragility of the Schengen system and the need to stand up for it and for what it represents.

In spite of the challenges, not all is lost. In 2022, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled against the abuse of the temporary border-checks mechanism by Member States, ensuring that the rule of law prevails and that our rights as citizens of the EU are respected in spite of the undermining by nation-states. As a central part of the European Union’s identity, free movement is promoted by the European Commission amongst the youth via the successful DiscoverEU programme, which allows for thousands of 18- year-old EU residents to discover Europe by rail every year. Additionally, the full accessions of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania into Schengen in recent years, and the recent announcement of the Cypriot government’s intent to join Schengen by 2026, symbolise the hopes for a bright future for the Schengen Agreement.

Read the motion to find out what we're calling for.