After all, this was how the Schengen Treaty which later became part of the acquis communitaire (the body of EU law) came into being.

Schengen and European Security

Of course, there are flaws in the Schengen system.

By joining Schengen, the Swiss police also gained access to the Schengen Information System and other important European databases on criminal suspects, stolen cars, and more.

In recent weeks angry Bulgarians protested against the Schengen visa process.

Schengen Europeans shrug nonchalantly they seem to think that everyone beyond the Schengen zone is part of some low post Soviet breed, always up to no good.

But the Schengen agreement offers an alternative, namely arrangements between individual states.

The worst aspect of all is the so called Schengen black list .

More than national pride and economics are wounded by the Schengen restrictions.

Europe s borderless Schengen Area is another example of regional supra national governance.

We have Schengen area, and we already have an institute of reinforced cooperation.

Similar flexibility exists with the Euro, the Schengen Agreement, and the Social Chapter.

Both physical and trade borders have been eliminated between these countries (Schengen Area).

Citizens from European countries outside the Schengen zone face Alice in Wonderland justice they must prove that they are not criminals or job poachers if they are to secure a Schengen visa.

What the Schengen Area needs is a true European coast guard, with its own budget, ships, and personnel.

Malta is a member of the European Union and the border free Schengen zone, making travel there simple.

With 61 Schengen visas per 1,000 residents, Belarus is far ahead of Russia (36 visas), Ukraine (24 visas) and Georgia (13 visas). Even in absolute, not relative, terms Belarus is the world s fifth highest recipient of Schengen visas. This is despite the fact that Belarusians pay 60 euros for their Schengen visa much more than citizens of other post Soviet countries who pay only 35 euros .

Britain, absent from the euro zone and the Schengen border regime, remains the odd man in of the EU.

Soon, it may appear even more isolated to Russians, as Poland and Lithuania enforce the EU's Schengen border rules.

The candidate states, on the other hand, have, in order to qualify for membership of the EU, to swallow 80 000 pages of rules and regulations known as the 'acquis communautaire'. This is a labour of Sisyphus, since the 'acquis' grows faster than the capacity to absorb it in East European legislation.

That has jeopardized the Schengen Area of borderless travel, and some are asking whether the EU can withstand the pressure.

Much of the 'acquis' the product of a long and complex history of the EU is hardly relevant to the development of the new democracies.

Subsequently reimposing border controls within the supposedly border free Schengen Area set a terrible precedent, prompting Germany s neighbors to do likewise.

All three countries became part of the Schengen zone in late 2007 when border controls finally ceased to exist in the region.

Already, the controversy over Tunisian migrants in Italy has started to fray the political underpinnings that allow free movement in the Schengen area.

Britain is already semi detached outside of Schengen and with opt outs from the euro and many home affairs matters (including asylum policy).

The EU s Justice Interior Council is to meet on 30 November to determine the fates of Romania and Bulgaria in regard to Schengen.

There is dismay at the bureaucratic rigidity and gigantism of the 80,000 pages of the acquis communautaire, which they have to adopt before being let in to the club.

The Law on Prevention and Protection against Discrimination still needs to be aligned with the EU acquis as it does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Germany appears unconvinced that Romania is ready for Schengen membership and suggests that Romania and Bulgaria be looked at separately, on their own merits.

French diplomats (with assenting nods, it appears, from the Greeks and Dutch) suggest that where Schengen is concerned Romania and Bulgaria are Siamese twins.

Until now, it has been a cardinal dogma of the Union that all candidates for membership must accept the acquis communautaire , as the inherited backlog of Community legislation is known.

A NAFTA wide security perimeter could transform internal borders in much the same way that the Schengen Agreement transformed borders within much of continental Europe.

The subsequent decision by non EU countries like Switzerland to join the Schengen Area highlights the massive benefits, including for security, of maintaining open borders.

The Schengen Area s members need to recognize that the security rationale for abolishing internal borders remains as compelling today as it was when they joined.

Enormous effort was expended by them something not fully understood by current EU members to accomplish their domestic transformations and so adapt themselves to the incredibly extensive acquis of the Union.

All of this is in sharp contrast with the treatment given the EU candidates. They were assisted by thousands of experts in adopting the EU's legendary, 80,000 page acquis communautaire . legislative package.

Without that prospect, no candidate country would go through the painful process of adopting the tens of thousands of rules and regulations contained in the Acquis Communautaire (the body of EU law).

Europe s borderless Schengen Area is another example of regional supra national governance. There are also aspects of infrastructure that can best be addressed at the continental level.

Membership talks can t help but be long and arduous, if only because adopting the acquis communautaire (the body of EU law) requires that Turkey integrate around 10,000 pages of texts into its legislation.

SOFIA Residents of the sleepy town of Schengen, near Luxembourg s border with France and Germany, would marvel at the hatred in which their hometown is held across Eastern Europe.

So, will Europe commit to moving toward political union, and thereby address what has remained missing, despite the single market, the euro, and the Schengen Agreement s elimination of internal borders?

In recent years, having opted out of the single currency and the Schengen area (which allows Europeans to cross borders without passports), the UK has distanced itself from important EU initiatives.

If the Schengen Area is to endure, it needs to evolve in a similar direction, establishing a common institution responsible for securing external borders, while reinforcing the framework for internal security.

The whole of Cyprus joined the EU in May 2004, but the acquis communautaire the body of EU law applies only to areas under direct government control, so it is suspended in those parts administered by Turkish Cypriots.