In its annual report on the functioning of the Schengen area of passport-free travel, the European Parliament condemned decisions by some member countries to restore internal border checks or set up physical barriers on their borders, calling on them to strengthen security cooperation and the EU's external borders instead.

The report by Carlos Coelho of the European People’s Party (EPP), adopted with 439 votes in favour and 157 votes against, said that the Schengen area is one of the most important achievements of the EU, a key part of the European project most recogniseable among European citizens.

The EP said in the report that internal border controls must not become status quo.

The report reiterated, at Croatian Social Democrat MEP Tonino Picula’s request, support for the accession of Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia to the Schengen area as soon as they meet the set conditions.

“I come from Croatia – a country that has met almost all criteria for membership of the Schengen area and has been successfully controlling the external border, yet it is separated from the rest of the EU with barbed wire! The Schengen area, one of the biggest attainments of European integration, must not be sacrificed due to shortcomings of some of the security policies,” Picula said during the debate on the report.

He added that the Schengen Area is not functioning the way it did before 2015, when a migration wave and terrorist attacks revealed that, without upgrades and changes to the asylum policy, the results it had since its introduction would not be possible anymore.

On June 8 Picula will organise a high-level conference in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik on the topic of Schengen area, its origin, future, and prospects. A week earlier, another Croatian MEP, Dubravka Suica of the HDZ party, who also participated in today’s EP discussion, will organise a conference on the Schengen area to be attended by representatives of Croatian intelligence and security agencies.

The Schengen area has 26 members and more than 400 million residents. EU member countries that are not part of the area are Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania while Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are its signatories even though they are not EU members.

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