40 years of Schengen: a milestone to defend!

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Schengen Agreements, a pillar of European integration that allows the free movement of more than 400 million citizens within the European area. For the MOT, this anniversary is an opportunity to highlight how essential this achievement remains for border regions, where the daily lives of millions of people depend on open borders.

Cross-border territories are on the front line when it comes to measuring the benefits of Schengen, but also the negative impacts of its suspensions. The health crisis had already demonstrated this, and today, the reintroduction of controls, such as between France and Germany, is still severely disrupting the daily lives of cross-border workers. More than ever, the MOT supports initiatives that defend and strengthen this European achievement, which is essential to daily life, cooperation between regions and territorial cohesion in Europe.

Also noteworthy is the initiative of six French and German MPs who are calling for ‘greater flexibility’. More info

See also the opinion piece by Franck Leroy, President of the Grand Est Region, in the newspaper Ouest France: ‘Schengen is an opportunity, not a threat’. More info