Dear Chair,
Honourable Members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I welcome the organisation of this hearing dedicated to Schengen.
It could not be timelier.
Schengen is the most tangible success of our European Integration.
Schengen is the symbol of being and feeling European: for students, workers, businessmen, travellers that want to move freely, safely and quickly in an area without internal border controls.
It is also a symbol of trust: trust among Member States that our external border management is solid and that police cooperation works.
Right now, Schengen is under strain because of the weaknesses in our systems that have been exposed by both the migration and security crises.
But it is precisely right now that we must safeguard Schengen.
Now is not the time to take Schengen for granted.
That is why we need to rebuild trust and upgrade our migration, security and border management systems so they are future-proof in a sustainable and credible way.
The launch of the European Border and Coast Guard is a historical and ground-breaking achievement in this respect.
This was a joint effort that you, together with us and the Council, helped deliver.
But all our efforts over the last 18 months have been focusing on this.
Because let me be very clear: Returning back to Schengen’s normal functioning is a priority for this Commission, a priority that I know that this Parliament shares.
Therefore, on top of the regular reporting by the Commission both to the Council and the European Parliament I think that a public political discussion was very much needed: thank you for organising it.
Unfortunately I cannot stay long with you – I have to leave to prepare the Justice and Home Affairs Council in Luxembourg – but I will follow your discussion and conclusions very closely.
Ladies and Gentleman,
Let me remind you of some facts on where we stand now.
I would like to start by repeating that the Commission’s objective remains to lift all internal border controls and to return to a normally functioning Schengen area as soon as possible.
All our measures have been building the conditions for this “back to Schengen” in a sustainable and credible manner.
I don’t need to remind you of the conditions and challenges that have put considerable pressure on Member States and on our Schengen system overall, leading to the reintroduction of internal border controls in a number of Member States.
I do want to remind however that these border controls in the EU have to be targeted and limited in scope, frequency, location and time.
As analysed in our Report in the end of September, the controls have remained within the conditions set by the Recommendation: limited to what is strictly necessary and proportionate in light of the threat to public policy and internal security posed by the risk of secondary movements of irregular migrants entering the EU via Greece.
However, we did not in any way want to prejudge the decision that will be taken by the Council, on a proposal from the Commission, at the expiry of the six-month period set in the Recommendation on whether there is a need to prolong or not the current temporary internal border controls.
Let me however say this: all our measures are interlinked and go hand in hand.
Our priorities for both migration and security come together in how we manage our external borders, and how we safeguard Schengen – because Schengen cannot exist without effective management of our external borders.
But this doesn’t mean that we should close our external borders in order to keep the internal ones open.
We are NOT building a Fortress Europe, and we will never allow Europe to become one.
Europe knows, respects and delivers on its international obligations to receive, welcome and protect those who need it but also allow access to bonafide travellers.
But those who have no right to stay and are not in need of protection have to be returned.
This is the central equation of a comprehensive border management approach that we are now putting in place with the European Border and Coast Guard, but also with other elements.
Last week we launched the European Border and Coast Guard.
I have insisted for the European Parliament to be represented, and I was happy to see that it was: the quick agreement on this important Regulation symbolised our common commitment to deliver. And we must keep on delivering in all aspects of our policy.
One of our immediate priorities is to make sure that the European Border and Coast Guard will be fully operational within the legal deadlines, in 3 months from now.
In parallel, the continued implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement has delivered concrete results and must now be further sustained, particularly on resettlement and return.
This goes hand in hand with a full implementation of the relocation schemes from Italy and Greece.
We have seen considerable progress on all these elements in the past weeks and Member States should continue building on the encouraging results.
These are essential building blocks, prerequisites even, to return to a normal situation and implementation of all EU rules: on Schengen, but eventually also on Dublin, that will ultimately be reformed and improved. But this is only one side.
We cannot forget the security side of our border management.
First of all, information exchange needs to be enhanced, and our information systems need to be better connected and more interoperable.
The cooperation between police, law enforcement and security services needs to be improved.
Furthermore, systematic checks at the external borders will contribute to increased security on the European territory,
and therefore also to a better functioning Schengen system.
EU leaders have promised to deliver on this, and I urge you, Members of this Parliament,
to continue the discussion with the Council and try to find common ground as soon as possible.
Further progress must also be made in the negotiations on the Entry-Exit System (EES) proposal, which will be essential for the modernisation and strengthening of our external borders.
As you know, the Commission is also working on a proposal for a European Travel Authorisation System (ETIAS):
an automated system to determine the eligibility of all visa-exempt third country nationals to travel to the Schengen Area, that we intend to put forward in November.
ETIAS will help to safeguard the EU’s visa liberalisation policy, strengthen the quality of Schengen border management and increase travel convenience in general.
Concerning the evolution of the Schengen Information System (SIS), the evaluation report is currently being finalised and will be available before the end of 2016.
Eu-LISA has launched the implementation of a central fingerprint recognition function in SIS, which will allow the identification of persons included in a SIS alert based upon their fingerprints.
This way, persons using different or false identities will be detected.
Honourable Members,
We are not where we were one year ago.
We have achieved considerable progress.
Now is the moment to build on that progress.
But this also means avoiding any risk of backtracking.
We must never backtrack on Schengen. Schengen is one of our Union’s crowning achievements.
As I mentioned before, Europe must never become Fortress Europe.
But openness and tolerance cannot come at the price of security.
Our door is and should remain open for those who are in need of international protection and those who travel on our territories in good faith, but those who have no right to be here should be returned.
So many people live and experience the benefits of Schengen on a daily basis.
The cost of not having Schengen anymore goes far beyond the economic cost that we can put in numbers.
It is immeasurable. Europe is defined by Schengen, and Schengen defines our European space.
We cannot and will not let Schengen be jeopardised.
We will continue working to lift all internal border controls and return to a normally functioning Schengen area as soon as possible.
Honourable Members,
I count on your full support to achieve this together.