L‘Italy suspends Schengen: Europe locks down its borders and our country does too due to the escalation of the terrorist alert throughout the area due to the very hot situation in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not the first time that the Treaty guaranteeing the free movement of people has been interrupted since it came into force. This has happened several times, at least a hundred since 2006, according to data from the European Commission. The most recent between 2020 and 2022 due to Covid and the emergency linked to the pandemic. It had happened even before in 2015, to block immigration.
Schengen Area, what does it mean that it has been suspended
The Schengen Treaty can be suspended for precise and exceptional reasons: in case of threat to public order or national security.
Clearly, this time the issue is one of safety. In practice it happens that Italy and the other 10 countries that have chosen to do so, they will reintroduce border controls. The Italian government will do this on the border with Slovenia, but also on the border with other territories, such as Austria and Switzerland. And in particular it will strengthen the surveillance of migratory flows.
The increasing level of terrorist alert has led Italy and 10 other countries to reintroduce border controls(Photo by Mandoga Media/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Which countries have reintroduced border controls
THE Countries that are reactivating border controls in addition to Italy there are Slovenia, Austria, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, which although not part of the EU joins the Schengen area .
What is the Schengen Treaty
Signed on 14 June 1985 on board the “Maria-Astrid”, a boat anchored for the occasion in a small Luxembourg port on the Moselle, the Schengen Treaty establishes free movement in Europe. Within the “Schengen area”, as it is called, people can move freely thanks to the abolition of all internal borders replaced with a single external border. The initial agreement was signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. But Italy joined it soon after. Since 1995, the number of countries that have joined has progressively increased to now involve 27 countries. The latest entry is Croatia.
How a country suspends the Schengen area
The Member State that wants to restore the borders must notify it to the Commission and other EU countries at least four weeks before closing. After that, border controls may last: six months in the case of events such as sporting events, important conferences, a maximum of two months in the event of events requiring immediate action.
What changes for those who travel
As anyone who travels knows well, when moving between countries that fall within the Schengen area there is no document control, which could happen now. As regards Italy in particular, the reintroduction of controls only concerns the border with Slovenia and will be implemented from 21 October for a period of 10 days, extendable pursuant to EU Regulation 2016/339.
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