Reviving Border Controls

Seventy per cent of Austrians are in favour of reintroduction of border controls as a temporary measure, a survey published by Profil in May, while 25% of the respondents opposed such plan. The EU Interior Minister Meeting ventilated the debate on temporary lifting of border controls within the Schengen Area in April, when France and Italy proposed such a measure to combat illegal immigration from Africa.

The Schengen Agreement stipulates no border controls between its members – currently 26 countries. Nevertheless, on occasions, temporary border controls were introduced since the agreement came into force, like Austria in summer 2008 during the European Championships as to prevent football hooligans entering the country and disrupting the games.