Schengen Celebrates 40 Years Amid Calls to End Border Controls

The Schengen Agreement, Europe's landmark treaty enabling borderless travel, celebrated its 40th anniversary this week amid growing calls from political leaders to eliminate temporary border controls that have become increasingly common across the region.

Leaders Demand Return to Borderless Ideal

At a ceremony in the Luxembourg village of Schengen where the agreement was signed in 1985, German Bundesrat President Anke Rehlinger made an impassioned plea: "Schengen is not the problem, Schengen is the solution for Europe." The Saarland minister-president, who lives in a border region, criticized the current system where border guards patrol non-existent checkpoints.

Current Reality: Persistent Controls

Despite the celebratory mood, German federal police conducted vehicle checks on the Moselle bridge near Schengen during the anniversary events - a visible contradiction to the agreement's principles. Key facts about today's Schengen Zone:

• 29 member countries with 420 million residents
• Temporary border controls remain in Germany and several EU nations
• Controls must be regularly justified and cannot become permanent

Luxembourg's Warning

Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel delivered a stark message: "Gaining freedom was a struggle. Losing it can happen very quickly." He emphasized that migration challenges require EU-wide solidarity rather than border checks, warning against rising populism.

Anniversary Highlights

The celebrations featured symbolic elements reinforcing Schengen's vision:

• The return of the Princess Marie-Astrid Europa, the ship where the agreement was signed
• Opening of a new Schengen Museum chronicling the zone's history
• 18 million euro investment in commemorative projects

As Rheinland-Pfalz Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer noted, the challenge lies in balancing security needs with preserving Europe's hard-won freedom of movement - a tension that continues to test the Schengen ideal four decades after its creation.