Schengen AgreementThe goal of the Schengen Agreement is to ensure free movement of persons and facilitate movement of goods in the Schengen space. No border control is conducted at the internal borders of the Schengen member-states. At present, there are 25 Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Estonia has informed the European Commission of its readiness for the Schengen evaluation process from the 1st of May, 2006. On 21st December 2007, Estonia joined the Schengen area together with other 8 countries. In order to reconcile freedom and security, freedom of movement is accompanied by so-called compensatory measures. This involves improving coordination between the police, customs and the judiciary and taking necessary measures to combat important problems such as terrorism and organised crime. In order to make this possible, a complex information system known as the Schengen Information System (SIS) is set up to exchange data on people's identities and descriptions of objects which are either stolen or lost. |
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