Open Border Travel in Europe
Schengen Agreement Ended Need for Immigration Checks in the EU
The Schengen Agreement allows for open borders free of immigration checks when traveling between most Western and Central European countries (UK and Ireland excluded).
Since March 1995, when the Schengen Agreement came into force, millions of travelers have been able to cross borders in Europe without the need to slow down at customs and immigration. Cumbersome and time-consuming border controls have been eliminated making traveling between different European countries as simple as going from say one US state to another.
Originally, only five countries (France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) signed the agreement but presently virtually all Western and Central European countries participate in this open border scheme. Notable exceptions are the United Kingdom and Ireland; for travelers, Switzerland is will join November 2008.
Border crossings in Western Europe have generally not been a problem when traveling by train. Immigration officials would get onto the train at the last stop in a country and check passports while the train continued to the first stop in the next country. Individual passports were often not checked or stamped – although I cannot recall ever having crossed the Swiss-French border by train without French immigration officials dragging some unfortunate soul off for further investigation.
Europe’s open borders are best appreciated when traveling by car. On weekends and during holidays, long queues no longer form on either side of the border. The only question is – should you slow down or not simply because the traffic signs still call for a major reduction in speed.
Although the border posts are open, the immigration buildings are still in place, if usually unmanned. The Schengen Agreement allows countries to impose border controls again for short periods and many countries do during major events.
- Germany will probably reinstate border controls between Bavaria and Austria during the UEFA Euro 2008 football tournament in June 2008 – a good enough reason to travel by train.
