Schengen and border controls: what impact on our cross-border territories? – A new European study
On December 11, 2025, the ITEM (Institute for Transnational and Euregional Cross-Border Cooperation and Mobility) at Maastricht University (NL) published a European study, conducted in collaboration with the MOT, on the impact of border controls on cross-border territories.
Since 2015, several countries, including France, have reintroduced border controls. This study, coordinated within the Transfrontier Euro-Institut Network (TEIN), aims to analyze border control practices in light of the 2024 revision of the Schengen Borders Code, whose provisions emphasize ensuring the proportionality of controls and taking into account their impact on cross-border regions.
KEY DOCUMENTS/WEBSITES
An analysis of the MOT on the France-Spain-Andorra border
As part of this study, the MOT analyzed the effects on the France-Spain-Andorra border, based on a questionnaire sent to its local partners, supplemented by input from the Ministry of the Interior. The study highlights the need to reconcile security imperatives with the daily lives of residents, to measure the effects of border controls on cohesion and integration, and to limit the impacts on socio-economic development.
