Schengen: 1985 pact under increasing strain

The original agreement to allow unhampered movement was signed near Schengen, a small town in Luxembourg, on 14th June, 1985.

European Economic Community Member States Belgium, France, the pre-reunification Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands swept away internal border checks.

A convention was added in 1990 and the arrangement entered force in 1995, with seven EU members on board — now including Spain and Portugal. Barriers and border buildings were dismantled 20 years ago.

Greatly expanded from the initial five EEC states, the Schengen Area now has 26 signatory countries. This guarantees free movement for some 417 million citizens, and many non-EU nationals, within a 4 million square kilometre space, carrying basic ID, which the authorities, as a rule, do not ask to see.

Twenty-two of the 28 EU states are part of Schengen, plus four non-EU members: Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. On the Schengen waiting list are Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania