- Europe marked the 40th anniversary of the Schengen Agreement on June 14, 2025, the bold, landmark treaty signed in 1985 on board the MS Princesse Marie Astrid on the Moselle River near the Luxembourg village of Schengen, at the tripoint where Luxembourg, Germany, and France meet.
- The Schengen Area, which underpins the European integration process, allows passport-free travel in 29 countries but is under serious pressure that’s revealing tensions between freedom of movement, security and social and economic imbalance.
- The 2015 migration crisis, which saw more than 1.2 million migrants arrive in Europe fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa (Eurostat, 2015), led to states such as Germany and Austria reintroducing temporary controls.
- As Schengen celebrates its 40th anniversary, the EU is beefing up the system to be better prepared for future global shocks and is dealing with data privacy and governance issues connected to the Entry-Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
Europe marked the 40th anniversary of the Schengen Agreement on June 14, 2025, the bold, landmark treaty signed in 1985 on board the MS Princesse Marie Astrid on the Moselle River near the Luxembourg village of Schengen, at the tripoint where Luxembourg, Germany, and France meet. This landmark agreement, signed first by Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, gave birth to the Schengen Area, the world’s biggest area free of internal borders, which now includes 29 countries and more than 450 million people. For more than 40 years, the Schengen Agreement has forged a new way of life, of work and of travel for Europeans, representing a beacon of unity and freedom, even in the face of difficult questions around security, migration and global crises.
The Birth of a Vision
Schengen was built on a rather audacious dream to get rid of internal border controls between such signatory countries to allow for the free flow of people, goods and services. Negotiated outside the framework of the European Community, whose member states did not agree on either an intergovernmental conference to be convened under the European Union (EU) pillars, it was a pragmatic agreement among five member states to use it as a vehicle to advance European integration. This core came to be known as the Schengen acquis and included a common visa policy, police cooperation and the elimination of systematic border checks in 1995 for the original members, plus the later entrants Portugal and Spain; the 1990 Schengen Convention then built on these accords.
The Schengen Area gradually expanded to become a linchpin of European integration. The Schengen acquis was also enshrined in EU law at the 1999 Amsterdam Treaty, except for Ireland and the United Kingdom (the latter ceased to be an EU member state in 2020). Non-EU States Norway, Iceland (Norway’s laws incorporate EEA law), Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which would instruct new negotiations for this treaty with EEA (European Economic Area) as a starting point, joined via such association agreements, the free movement of persons being a significant common good. Bulgaria and Romania – joining the Schengen Area in 2025, Cyprus (participation limited to the southern part of the island) where the Republic of Cyprus does not take part in the Schengen venue for political reasons, but is a member of the EU and Finland have not given up the use of border controls at internal borders. Ireland participates on a selective basis, specifically in the Schengen Information System (SIS). The Schengen Area, as of today, now includes 25 members of the EU, as well as four non-EU members, across more than four million square kilometres.
Achievements: Freedom, Security, Prosperity
The Schengen Agreement has brought great benefits in three main areas: freedom of movement, security and prosperity.
1. Freedom of movement: The Schengen Area allows over 450 million citizens to move, live and work across its member countries without controls, so no need for passport checks. About 3.5 million of them cross internal borders daily to work, study, and travel for fun, creating a sense of shared European identity. For younger generations, a borderless Europe is the norm, and programs like Erasmus exploit this mobility. The Schengen visa permits non-EU citizens to move freely within the zone for 90 days, enhancing tourist and cultural visits. By 2024, Schengen itself would be a big business with millions of people flowing easily into cities such as Paris, Rome and Amsterdam.
2. Strengthened Security: Abolition of internal frontiers was accompanied by reinforced management of external frontiers and cooperation. – The Schengen Information System (SIS), the most widely used data exchange for security and border management in Europe, is used to flag, in real-time, alerts to threats and support law enforcement and border guards. With over 120,000 border guards and coordination between agencies such as Europol and Frontex, Schengen has brought down irregular migration and fought cross-border crime, from human trafficking to terrorism. The State of Schengen 2025 noted a marked decrease in irregular border crossings, citing enhanced cooperation as a reason.
3. Economic prosperity: No trade barriers and lower cost adds up to more jobs, and Schengen has facilitated that. More than 32 million businesses benefit from open supply chains and a deeper talent pool. Cross-border commuting has boomed, with more than 2 million Europeans working in a country other than the one where they live. Research suggests that Schengen boosts intra-member trade by 0.1% a year, benefiting the E.U.’s single market. Areas such as the Greater Region, which spans Luxembourg, Germany, France and Belgium, embody the level of economic integration where people cross the border to work every day.
The landmark Schengen agreement, signed first by Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, gave birth to the Schengen Area, the world’s biggest area free of internal borders, which now includes 29 countries and more than 450 million people.
Challenges and Criticisms
The Schengen Area, which underpins the European integration process, allows passport-free travel in 29 countries but is under serious pressure that’s revealing tensions between freedom of movement, security and social and economic imbalance. Medium. These challenges, provoked by migration crises, security challenges, and disparities of burden-sharing among member states, have fuelled debates amongst governments, civil society and affected populations, and they have exposed difficult trade-offs.
i. Internal border controls and effects
Schengen’s guarantee of frictionless travel has been violated again and again by internal border controls, challenging its fundamental spirit. The 2015 migration crisis, which saw more than 1.2 million migrants arrive in Europe fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa (Eurostat, 2015), led to states such as Germany and Austria reintroducing temporary controls. Such measures returned during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022) and again in 2024–2025, in response to terrorism and irregular migration. The checks crushed cross-border communities, as in Saarland, Germany, or Alsace, France, that are economically reliant on domestic workers who work in the neighbouring country. In 2021, a European Commission study calculated that the closure of Europe’s borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic cost Schengen €8–18bn annually because of stalled trade and labour movement.
There is still strong public support for a Europe without borders, with 68% of EU citizens in a 2024 Eurobarometer survey supporting the Schengen model. But human rights groups, including Amnesty International, counter that internal checks run counter to Schengen’s spirit and undermine trust among states. On the other hand, populist movements in Hungary and Poland have defended controls as necessary for state security, underlining a political division. Tensions rose with a 2025 Berlin court ruling that turning away asylum seekers at borders without hearings was illegal, especially in Germany, where a YouGov poll in 2024 found 52% backed tougher borders and 40% supported asylum rights. This trade-off between security and free movement threatens Schengen’s cohesion and weighs heavily on borderland regions.
ii. External Control of Borders and Humanitarian Implications
The management of Schengen’s borderlands is still contentious, a trade-off of security versus moral duty to asylum. Increased controls, such as enhanced Frontex missions and limiting visas, have been associated with humanitarian crises, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stating that over 29,000 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014. The 2016 photo of Aylan Kurdi, a Syrian toddler who drowned, highlighted this toll. Mediterranean countries like Greece and Italy, the primary points of entry, are under unfair strain. Greece’s out-of-control coronavirus straw huts, such as Moria’s, were also slammed as “inhumane” again by MSF in 2023. These countries say that richer northern countries such as Germany enjoy the advantage of open borders while paying less towards border management while exacerbating social and economic divisions.
The EU’s 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum, due to be implemented in 2026, seeks to standardise how asylum requests are handled and the movement of migrants. Yet, scepticism abounds. Southern states complain of inadequate burden-sharing even as northern nations, including Denmark, refuse to accept relocation quotas. Eastern states led by Hungary are against taking in migrants, arguing that they are financially burdened. A 2024 European Council on Foreign Relations report states that the pact’s annual budget of €2 billion is well below the southern states’ need of €10 billion. UNHCR says the pact puts deterrence first, which will lead to more deaths at sea. The Belarus–Poland border crisis in 2021, in which Belarus weaponised migrants, revealed flaws in coordination, and led to Poland’s response being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for human rights violations.
iii. Socio-Economic Disparities and Trade-Offs
The failures of Schengen are also the failures of extreme socio-economic inequality. Northern and western states, the ‘winners’ of an economic system that grants free movement to the former they benefit economically. Schengen adds €110 billion to EU GDP annually (EC, 2023), but not the latter, such as Greece, which allocates 0.3% of GDP to migration, versus Germany,y who spends 0.05% (OECD, 2024). This imbalance stokes resentment, with leaders in the south charging their northern counterparts with “free-riding.” In the south, where unemployment is high (11.2 per cent in Greece, 2024), migration feeds anti-immigrant sentiment; in the north, where unemployment is low (3.5 per cent in Germany), it is viewed as a labour asset, though political pressure to restrict inflows remains strong. Civil society, such as Oxfam, demands fairer funding; the northern business lobbies want those open borders for the economic boons.
The Schengen Area allows over 450 million citizens to move, live and work across its member countries without controls, so no need for passport checks.
Looking Ahead: Modernisation and Resilience
As Schengen celebrates its 40th anniversary, the EU is beefing up the system to be better prepared for future global shocks and is dealing with data privacy and governance issues connected to the Entry-Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS). These initiatives provide lessons for other areas.
Schengen’s resilience to crises as diverse as pandemics or waves of migration hinges upon increased cooperation and technology. The State of Schengen 2025 report points to fewer irregular crossings and the integration of new members. Building on biometrics and real-time data exchange, EES and ETIAS reinforce EU external borders without impinging on the freedom of movement as part of the 2022 Schengen Strategy. More money and crisis simulation exercises for Frontex to increase emergency response capacity. This concerted course of action offers a template in ASEAN, where surveillance of its borders remains disjointed.
EES’s biometrics collection and the pre-travel screening for ETIAS raise privacy concerns. The European Data Protection Supervisor emphasises GDPR compliance and added features such as encryption and audits to protect the data. But retention periods and the possibility of function creep are points of contention. But the governance challenges include streamlining implementation across 27 member states with different capabilities. EES and ETIAS are overseen by the EU’s eu-LISA agency, but differences could lead to time lags. And closer global partners, including Interpol, it seems, must find a balance between security and rights, something for regions like the African Union as they develop cross-border systems.
Schengen’s experience underscores the need for interoperable technology, equitable investment in resources and transparent communication in sustaining public trust in data-driven border systems. The 2025 Council declaration and related Schengen Museum reopening on 14 June 2025 confirm Schengen’s strategic value, providing a model for sustainable, rights-respecting regional collaboration around the world.
Conclusion
Out of the vision of a borderless Europe was born the Schengen Agreement, one of the key components of the continent’s identity. It has delivered more freedom, security and prosperity than at any time in our history over the last 40 years, connecting millions of people and businesses. Although its resilience is tested by migration, a security threat and temporary border checks, the EU’s zeal for modernisation and unity confirms Schengen’s enduring status. As Europe marks this anniversary, the Schengen Area is a testament to the value of cooperation and the eternal dream of a united, open continent.
References:
- 1. https://ec.europa.eu/stories/schengen-40-years/
- 2. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/schengen-celebrates-40-years-2025-05-28_en
- 3. https://europeannewsroom.com/40-years-of-schengen-has-been-a-success-for-europe-but-is-it-under-threat/
- 4. https://www.dw.com/en/germany-asylum-seeker-numbers-on-the-rise-in-2024/a-73091048
- 5. https://www.eulisa.europa.eu/
- 6. https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/document/download/e4a67707-7a12-4af0-8f3a-9b01301e263f_en?filename=EL_CR_SWD_2025_208_1_EN_autre_document_travail_service_part1_v4.pdf
Megna Devkar is a Ph.D. Research Scholar at K.C. Law College with research and writing expertise in social, political, and legal issues. Views expressed are the author’s own.
Bishwarupa Kar 
Faareha Usmani 
Divyanka Tandon