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Schengen border controls poorly scrutinised during the pandemic

July 2022

Schengen border controls poorly scrutinised during the pandemic

The European Commission has not scrutinised enough the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic posed to the right of free movement of people. This is the overall conclusion of a special report published on 13 June 2022 by the European Court of Auditors (ECA).

"Considering that the free movement of people is one of the four fundamental freedoms of the EU and has been at the heart of the European project since its inception, the Commission should have checked carefully that restrictions introduced during the COVID times were all relevant and justified", said Baudilio Tomé Muguruza, the ECA member responsible for the audit. "We hope that our audit findings will feed into the ongoing debate on the review of the Schengen system."

The auditors reviewed all 150 Member State notifications of internal border controls that were submitted to the European Commission between March 2020 and June 2021, of which 135 related exclusively to COVID-19.

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To consult the report

 

Photo : Shutterstock / M-SUR

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