Opinion - Editorials

Switzerland in Schengen

The expansion of the European Union’s Schengen internal border-free zone, entailing common frontiers, to include another non-member state, the Swiss Federation — besides Norway and Iceland — is a logical next step in the continent’s economic integration process. Lending particular significance to Bern’s move to open its borders to the EU is the citizens’ overwhelming, albeit paradoxical, support for the country to stay outside the groupi ng of 27 states, underpinned by its long tradition of direct democracy in decision-making and neutrality in external policy. The Swiss stance is a reflection on the complexities that hinder political integration from proceeding apace with economic union in the EU. The applicability to Switzerland of the common visa issued to nationals of third countries, currently valid across all but five of the EU states, is the most evident benefit from the latest development. The abolition of cross-border identity checks, a critical time-saver for German and French commuters, adds weight to the existing agreement on the free movement of persons between Switzerland and the bloc, with mutual rights to reside and work. The access to the EU-wide electronic database to monitor illegal migration and tracking crime would be of particular relevance to the country’s bid to check international tax evasion — an aspect that would also weigh strongly with the Principality of Liechtenstein, an EU outsider, in its proposed entry into Schengen in 2009.

Moves for the mutual relaxation of border controls started as initiatives among individual EU as well as non-EU states, but outside the framework of the EU. While the five Nordic states formed a passport union in the 1950s, the Benelux countries put in place similar measures in the 1960s and, along with France and Germany, formulated the 1985 Schengen agreement, which was subsequently integrated into EU legislation in 1999. Following the accession of some of these countries into the EU during this period, entering the Schengen area remained the sole option for the remaining states to retain the benefits of border-free movement. The integration into Schengen for the five EU member states, including the United Kingdom and Ireland, though subject to internal decision-making, is undoubtedly consistent with the fundamental objectives of EU membership and a practical imperative in the long term. Similarly, a decision on the adoption of euro single currency — although far more controversial and contingent upon the implementation of market reforms in most of the countries of the former Eastern Europe, besides the U.K.— may not be left open-ended indefinitely.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu