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The Czech Republic in the Schengen area
On 21 December 2007, the Czech Republic joined the Schengen area. Border checks at the land borders were abolished
at midnight from 20 to 21 December 2007. At the international airports, border checks on intra-Schengen flights came
to an end on 30 March 2008.
Since 21 December 2007, the Czech Republic has been fully participating in the Schengen
cooperation, thus being a member of a group of countries which carry out no border checks at their common
borders and which have brought their efforts to fulfill the right of free movement of persons to a successful end.
The 2007 Schengen enlargement can be seen as a symbolic end to the imaginary division of Europe into the \“West\“
and the \“East\“ and it means that people are allowed to cross land borders without the obligation to present an
identity document at former border-crossing points.
What does the fact that the Czech Republic is a Member State of the Schengen area mean in practice?
The abolition of border checks at land borders and the possibility to cross the former border crossing
points without a stop was the most visible, yet not the only change arising from the integration of the Czech
Republic in the Schengen area. The abolition of border checks at internal borders was accompanied by various
compensatory measures involving extensive cooperation of all Member States applying provisions of the Schengen
acquis (Schengen states/countries) in many aspects, such as setting a common visa regime, improving coordination
between the police, customs and the judiciary and taking additional steps to combat problems such as terrorism and
organized crime.
What is the Schengen Area
The History of the Schengen Area
Areas of Cooperation
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the Schengen Area
Signed on June 14, 1985, in Schengen, Luxembourg, the Schengen Agreement originally was a separate agreement made by five of the then ten European Economic Community (EEC) member states. The purpose of this agreement was to eliminate internal barriers to trade in goods and services. This purpose expanded during the 1990 Schengen Convention, which sought to abolish internal border controls and universalize visa policy to allow for a greater movement of people. These agreements eventually led to the creation of the Schengen Area on March 26, 1995. The Schengen Area agreements have since become a part of European Union (EU) procedure, meaning that further amendments to the agreement must go through the processes of European Union institutional approval. This also means that potential EU member states must negotiate their Schengen Area status as part of their accession to the EU. The Czech Republic joined the Schengen Area during the largest expansion of the number of member states, on December 21, 2007. This expansion brought the total number of participatory countries from fifteen (15) to twenty-four (24). These nine (9) member states (The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) all joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, and had since begun implementing parts of the Schengen Agreement prior to their full accession (Schengen Acquis). This period of partial implementation included border checks between the prospective states and full Schengen Area member states, police and judicial cooperation, and external border checks. These policies were enforced until the European Council confirmed fulfillment of all Schengen Area requirements, and allowed for the abolishment of internal border checks. Cyprus, Bulgaria, and Romania have also implemented this partial form of Schengen Area procedure, following similar guidelines as the other member states, which joined in 2007. Since 2007, only two more countries have become full member states of the Schengen Area, bringing the member state total to its current number, twenty-six. Switzerland formally joined the Schengen Area on December 12, 2008, and ceased internal border checks on the same day. However, customs checks still occur at Switzerland’s borders because the country is not a member of the EU Customs Union. Liechtenstein signed the Schengen Area accession agreement on February 27, 2008, and fully implemented Schengen policies on December 19, 2011. Border checks at international airports on flights within the Schengen Area ended on March 29, 2009.
Current Participants
The Schengen Area is currently comprised of 22 European Union Member countries, and four European Free Trade Association member states (with whom the Schengen Area has negotiated similar border policies). Three European microstates are also within the borders of the Schengen area, though they are not formal Schengen Agreement signatories. Four additional EU member states have also legally committed to entering the Schengen Area in the near future. Effectively, this creates a 26-country zone in which travelers may move between countries without having to go through passport checks or customs offices. However, if you are not EU citizen, you should keep your passport with you while traveling abroad, in addition to any visa or legal form of ID you own, as well as proof of insurance. 
Source: European Parliament
- Twenty-two EU States are in the Schengen Area:
Austria, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden
- Four EFTA Member States are Associated with/ Participatory in the Schengen Area:
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland
- Three European Microstates are within the Schengen Area:
Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City
- Four European Member States want to join the Schengen Area in the Future:
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, and Romania
About the Schengen Area
Today, the Schengen Area refers to the 26 states within which no border checks occur at the common internal borders. In practical terms, this means that Schengen Area internal borders can be crossed nearly anywhere at any time. This “freedom of movement” has allowed for the expansion of trade in goods and services, ease of travel within the Schengen Area for residents and tourists, and the adoption of a unified visa and border policy. Below are some statistics about how the Schengen Area has benefitted its member states since its adoption and implementation.
- Total trade between any two Schengen Area countries increases by approximately 0.1% per year.
- One border control removal is equivalent to the removal of a 0.7% tariff (on average).
- About 1.7 million people commute to work across a European border each day, and in some regions, these people constitute up to a third of the workforce.
- Each year, there are 1.3 billion crossings of Schengen borders (including goods and people).
- The trade in goods is benefited more strongly than trade in services, and the decrease in the cost of trade varies from 0.42% to 1.59% depending on geography, trade partners, and other factors.
Source: European Parliamentary Research Service (March 2016). „The economic impact of suspending Schengen“ (PDF). Retrieved 3 June 2019 It is important to note that the Schengen Area makes security and defense for its member states more efficient and streamlined, rather than be compromised, at the expense of greater trade. The absence of border checks at the internal borders is more than compensated for by extensive member state cooperation and universally high Schengen Area standards for procedure in multiple areas, including police and judicial cooperation, standardized visa and consular matters, and personal data protection. All of these measures were explicitly designed to prevent the misuse of the “freedom of movement” for criminal purposes.
Autor: Euroskop
The History of the Schengen Area
The Schengen Agreement is congruent with the Foundation Treaties of the European Communities.
The main purpose and mission of the Schengen cooperation is the free movement of persons without checks at
the common borders. It is through the Schengen Agreements that European Institutions actively promote the
foundational goal of European Integration as imagined by the Foundation Treaties of the European Communities. In
these treaties, the European Union member states already declared their ultimate aim of developing the
internal market as an area without internal borders to ensure free movement of goods, services, persons and
capital.
It has taken more than 40 years for the idea of free movement of persons to be put into practice.
Though always a theoretical goal of European Integration, adopting the Schengen Area agreement in its current form
has taken multiple decades. At first, the area was implemented at a purely intergovernmental level, and only in
relation to some EU countries. The gradual development of a common area without checks at internal borders began in
1985 in a small Luxembourg town, the name of which gradually became synonymous with the entire set of standards
related to the protection of the external EU borders.
Agreements similar in process, but smaller in scope, preceded the Schengen Agreement of 1985.
The Saarbrücken Agreement, concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and France, resulted
from the threat of a strike action of European transport operators because of endless queues at the state borders
between these countries. To remedy the issue, the agreement provided for gradual abolition of checks at their common
borders and application of the principle of free movement of goods and persons. Negotiations on similar measures
within the Benelux countries occurred one year later (in 1985), leading to the eventual signature of
the Schengen Agreement between Germany, France and the Benelux countries.
The Schengen Agreement in the European Museum Schengen in the Luxembourg town Schengen. Source: ctk
Initial Significance and Continued Impact of the Schengen Agreement
The signatory countries declared their interest in creating an area of free movement of persons and the abolition of
checks at the common, i.e. internal, borders, accompanied by the introduction of standardized effective checks at the
external borders. The importance of this agreement is illustrated by the fact that cooperation on the protection of
the common area today is referred to simply by the word „Schengen.” Five years later, in 1990, all five countries
again confirmed their intentions by signing the Schengen Implementing Convention, which set out, in
detail, all measures related to the abolition of checks and necessary compensatory measures.
Such a fundamental change of the standard regime at the state borders, however, needed thorough preparation. That is
why it took another five years before the Schengen cooperation moved from written declarations to practical
implementation in 1995. The Schengen Area was finally realized in March 1995, when the
obstacles at borders were finally removed. In the following years, border-crossing points
were abolished in other European countries. Today, signs in foreign languages or boards welcoming
drivers in the territory of a neighboring state are the only apparent evidence of having crossed a state border.
Schengen is Enlarging
With the gradual increase in the number of Schengen countries occurring over time as the EU expanded, the political
importance of Schengen cooperation increased as well. This was abundantly apparent after 1999, when the application of
the Schengen Agreement fully transferred from the inter-governmental level, and was subsequently incorporated
into the framework of the European Union in 1999 through the Amsterdam Treaty. Since then, there have been a growing number of common legal
regulations and other measures related to the protection of the common territory, together referred to as the
“Schengen Acquis.”
The incorporation of the Schengen Agreements into the EU framework was an important milestone in the development of
Schengen cooperation because, through this process, Schengen Integration became a prerequisite for membership in the
EU. Because of this, every new member state since 1999 must fulfil all of the “Schengen Acquis” requirements as a part
of their EU entry. Similar to the implementation of the Euro currency, the question is not whether but when each new
Member State, fully joins the Schengen Area and removes internal checks at common borders.
The Czech Republic in the Schengen Area
The integration of The Czech Republic and eight other Member States to the Schengen area took place on
December 21, 2007, when checks at the land borders of the Czech Republic with the neighboring
countries were removed (exception: International airport border checks on Schengen Area internal flights were
abolished on March 30, 2008). The EU Council decided the final and legally binding abolition of checks at internal
borders for Justice and Home Affairs on December 6, 2007. Approving this decision was possible only after the
fulfilment of all Schengen standards had been verified and access to the Schengen joint information database had been
granted. This database makes the abolition of internal checks not only possible, but also efficient, for Schengen
agreement member states.
To the Present Day
On December 12, 2008, the Schengen area was enlarged by another new state,
Switzerland. Switzerland is unique among Schengen member states because it still undergoes internal
customs checks. These checks occur because Switzerland is not a member of the EU Customs Union.
Liechtenstein became a member of the Schengen Area on December 19, 2011.
Source: čtk
A Condensed Timeline of Schengen Accessions
The abolition of police checks at common borders on March 26, 1995 included, along with the five
original contracting parties of the 1985 Schengen Agreement (i.e. Germany, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands, and Luxembourg), Spain and Portugal.
Very soon, Italy (1990) and Greece (1992) acceded to the Schengen Implementing
Convention; both countries, however, had to wait several years for full integration into the Schengen cooperation.
Italy fully abolished police checks at its internal borders together with Austria in 1998, and
Greece in 2000. A similar period of several years always separated the formal and practical
accession to the Schengen area during all rounds of the Schengen enlargement process.
On April 28, 1995, Austria added its signature to the Schengen Implementing Convention and was
followed by Denmark, Finland and Sweden on December 19, 1996.
With respect to existence of the Nordic Passport Union, it was also necessary to solve consequences of this Schengen
enlargement as Norway and Iceland were concerned; towards these countries,
standards of very close cooperation had been already applied for a number of years, including the removal of the
obligation to present travel documents when crossing common borders.
The issue of Norway and Iceland’s integration to the Schengen cooperation was solved by means of a specific
Accession Agreement, which resulted in the first enlargement of the Schengen area by non-EU countries. Police checks
at borders with these five Nordic countries were removed in 2001 after it had been verified that all necessary
conditions had been met.
On December 21, 2007, nine new EU Member States joined the Schengen area: the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.
On December 12, 2008, Switzerland became a new Schengen State.
Any other new Schengen states have to successfully pass the Schengen evaluation and demonstrate its readiness to
apply the full Schengen acquis and to abolish internal border control. Currently, four states (Bulgaria, Cyprus,
Liechtenstein, and Romania) aim at joining the Schengen area.
Cyprus has already undergone one part of the Schengen acquis, of which continuation is
preconditioned by the operational second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II).
The start of evaluation of Liechtenstein´s preparedness for joining Schengen is preconditioned by
entering into force of the protocol on its accession to the accession agreement between Switzerland and EU/EC.
Currently, ratification process of this protocol is approaching its end.
The verification of readiness of Bulgaria and Romania for accession into the
Schengen area started in autumn 2008 and is under way. Both countries aim at joining the Schengen area in March
2011.
Autor: Euroskop
Areas of Cooperation
For most citizens of the Schengen Area, the most noticeable impact of this agreement on their everyday life is quite negligible. It is only when crossing internal country borders without the need for your identification paperwork (visa, passport, etc.) to be checked that the benefits become noticeable. Schengen citizens may cross between Schengen member states anywhere and at any time. The purpose of the Schengen Agreement is to ensure that all obstacles to the communication infrastructure are removed. As a result, you can pass across member state borders as easily as you pass between cities inside a country; the only difference you may notice upon arrival in another country is special welcome boards or signs in a foreign language. What the Schengen Area does not eliminate are rules about traveling and identification requirements specific to a country. For example, if you are driving a car you still need the correct license to do so. You cannot travel across borders in areas that are private property, and you must still carry a valid ID or passport when you travel. The distinction between the Schengen member states and travelling to non-Schengen countries is simply that there is no need to go through a customs line / border check. Although these measures prove extremely useful for travel and economic exchange, the removal of internal border checks between Schengen member states also raised some concerns about internal security. To preemptively combat these issues, the Schengen member states introduced compensatory legal measures in the Schengen Acquis, and elaborated these measures in further recommendations concerning their proper implementation in practice. Combined, these measures form the Schengen standards, which are binding for all countries involved. A high standard for protection of the Schengen area is guaranteed by detailed regulations specifying the activities of individual countries, including their mutual cooperation, particularly in the following areas:
- External Border Control
- Police and Judicial Cooperation
- Cross Country Surveillance and ‘Hot Pursuit’
- Visa and Consular Cooperation
- Personal Data Protection
- The Schengen Information System
External Border Control
In order to allow for the free movement of persons and goods within the Schengen area, the Schengen Agreement also details the transfer of activities related to border control to the external borders of the Schengen states, i.e. borders with countries not involved in the Schengen cooperation. Currently, the most important piece of EU legislation regulating the cross-border movement of persons is the Schengen Borders Code (SBC), which began being enforced in October 2006. The SBC takes into account the current needs of the Communities regarding external EU border control. It requires that all persons crossing the borders be subject to a minimum check, in order to determine their identity based on their travel documents. Non-Schengen citizens, when entering and leaving the territory of member states, are additionally subjected to a thorough check. The current procedures at external borders of the EU are based on international cooperation. The external border control is a matter of interest not only for the relevant member state at the borders of which checks are conducted, but also for all the member states which have abolished their internal border control. The joint protection of the external borders should assist in combating illegal migration and human trafficking, and prevent any and all threats to internal security, public policy, and international relations of Member States. Within the framework of Schengen cooperation at the EU level, protection of the external borders of the EU member states is of paramount importance for promoting the EU’s agenda on justice and home affairs. The basic level on which the legal and executive regulations are prepared is EU Council working groups consisting of national representatives of all EU/Schengen member states. These working groups meet on a regular basis, providing technical support, and acting as an important agent in harmonizing the legislation of individual member states. The fight against illegal migration and cross-border crime concentrates mainly on the actual territory of the Czech Republic, where measures in the area of search, control, supervision and return of citizens have been intensified. A part of the police officers formerly working at border crossing points are charged with other tasks aimed at strengthening public order and security in the areas near the state borders. The police thus retain operations in the border regions, carrying out activities aimed at maintaining the same level of national security and public order. An important agency in the area of international cooperation for protecting the EU’s external borders is the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the EU Member States (Frontex). The main tasks of Frontex includes coordination of operational cooperation among member states in the area of external border control, assistance in the professional training of national border guards of the member states, compilation of risk analyses, provision of help to member states under circumstances requiring higher technical and operational assistance at the external borders, and the necessary support in organizing joint return operations. For more information on rules governing movement of persons crossing the external border, please see the website of the Ministry of the Interior.Police and Judicial Cooperation
Although the entirety of the police and judicial cooperation measures were formally implemented on December 21, 2007, these areas of cooperation had begun being established many years before that, to facilitate a smooth transition into being a full member of the Schengen agreement. Preventing organized crime, trafficking, and illegal migration are priority activities for border police. Due to the lack of internal border checks and common external border, all the appropriate authorities of the Schengen member states closely cooperate to control illegal activity. Police cooperation in the Schengen framework involves five basic areas of activity, including the exchange of liaison officers, exchange of information, harmonization of communication networks, as well as cross-border surveillance and hot pursuit of persons. Under certain circumstances, the policy of ‘hot pursuit’ allows police authorities of one country to continue in their activities in the territory of the neighboring country. This cooperation represents an unprecedented breakthrough to the key area of the execution of a state sovereign power. Important legal instruments of cooperation in criminal matters include the European Arrest Warrant and the surrender of persons serving sentences for criminal charges. Of course, due respect for human rights is always observed, and dual punishment, for instance, is prohibited. The cooperation between different member states authorities can take many forms. Oftentimes cooperation occurs on specific operations, in particular on detecting and investigating criminal offences, as well as obtaining, storing, processing and analyzing information, or e.g. common police training. An important role in this regard is played by the European Police Office (Europol), which ensures the exchange of information among member states and carries out analyses related to the fight against international organized crime and terrorism. Judicial cooperation concerning criminal matters includes –mainly– mutual assistance among the EU member states and the surrender of persons under the European Arrest Warrant. Intensive cooperation with the neighboring countries is in place. Bilateral agreements on police cooperation allow the police and customs authorities to exchange information; police officers from both sides of the border carry out joint patrols, participate in joint exercises and training courses, exchange security reports on the situation in the border regions, etc. Furthermore, joint centres facilitate mutual cooperation where officers of both contracting parties operate together. The Czech Republic has had such centers with Germany, Austria, and Poland even prior to 2007. Other evidence of well-functioning cooperation is the support in emergency and other special situations.
Cross-Country Surveillance and ‘Hot Pursuit’
The countries commit themselves to cooperating and helping each other in preventing and solving crime. This cooperation, however, is limited to requests which are not in the exclusive competence of national judicial authorities or which are not connected with the use of coercive measures by the requested party. Communication between police authorities in these cases is direct. Furthermore, law enforcement officers carrying out cross-border surveillance in the territory of another Schengen state must strictly observe stipulated restrictions. Law enforcement officers of one Schengen member state surveilling a suspect for evidence of complicity in an extraditable criminal offence may continue their surveillance in the sovereign territory of another Schengen state, if that state has pre-authorized cross-border surveillance in response to a request for assistance. Under certain other conditions, officers may continue in the surveillance of a person even if a prior authorization could not be requested for urgent reasons. This exception, however, only applies to specifically listed crimes. Law enforcement officers who pursue in their country a person caught in the act of committing or participating in one of the serious listed crimes have the possibility, under certain stipulated conditions, to continue their pursuit of such a person in the territory of another Schengen state. The pursuit must be justified by urgency reasons and no possibility of prior notification of the relevant state; it must concern a person caught in the act or a fugitive and the offence must be one of the criminal offences listed in Art. 41 par. 4 of the Schengen Implementing Convention. For practical purposes, a methodological manual for cross-border cooperation has been published, which further elaborates the practices and conditions of cross-border surveillance and hot pursuit policy. The same rules apply to the pursuit of a person who has previously been apprehended/detained (e.g. an escaped prisoner). In instances of both cross-border surveillance and hot pursuit, certain restrictions must be respected in the other state’s territory (the officers must abide by the law of the state in the territory of which they are active). In particular, they may use their service weapons only for necessary self-defense. Other restrictions concern the possibility to apprehend or arrest the person concerned or entry onto private property. In order to streamline police/customs cooperation and ensure the timely exchange of information, particularly in the border areas, the contracting parties must establish efficient mutual contacts or cooperate through liaison officers and other means. The possibility of the mutual secondment of liaison officers plays a very important role; its purpose is to strengthen and speed up cooperation, particularly through the exchange of information related to police collaboration and legal assistance in criminal matters, or by helping authorities responsible for protecting the external borders. Liaison officers are not authorized, however, to take police measures themselves. They are delegated on a bilateral basis. Judicial cooperation includes both practical collaboration of competent ministries, courts and other authorities during criminal proceedings and the execution of decisions, as well as legislative activity. Legislation mainly ensures extradition rights between member states, the compatibility of other legislation (particularly regarding criminal procedure, coordination of regulations on the jurisdiction of judicial and other investigative, prosecuting, and adjudicating bodies), and coordinate the substantive criminal law concerning organized crime, terrorism, and drug trafficking.Visa and Consular Cooperation
An instrument facilitating regulation of the influx of persons and eliminating the entry of undesirable persons or persons posing a security risk is the EU common visa policy. This policy is enforced through the entirety of the EU, not solely in Schengen member states, and all Schengen member states are compliant with the policy. The EU dictates visa requirements through two lists of countries; the „black list“ contains countries with a visa requirement for the EU, and the „white list“ includes countries without this requirement. Schengen member states, in addition, have standardized the conditions of short-term stay in their territories. Upon receiving a uniform Schengen visa, its holder may stay and freely move in the Schengen territory for up to 3 months in any half-year from the date of first entry into the Schengen area. Since September 1, 2006, the Czech Republic has been issuing travel documents with biometric features. Issuing long-stay permits or conditions for the acquisition of citizenship have not been standardized, and are instead regulated at the national level of each country. A valid residence permit or national long-stay visa issued by any Schengen state, however, authorizes its holder to move in the entire Schengen territory for up to 3 months during any six-month (half-year) period. On April 5, 2010, new regulations established a Community Code on Visas (known as the Visa Code). This code further specifies the rules for common visa policy and consular practice in the Schengen member states. The Czech Republic is also compliant with the Visa Information System, which acts as a European-wide consult on the issuance of visas, to prevent individuals who have been identified as undesirable and/or a security risk from obtaining a visa from another Schengen country. At the same time, the Schengen visa fee has been standardized (€60) for all applicants from third countries except nationals of the Russian Federation, the Ukraine, Albania, Moldova, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia. The fee for issuing a Schengen visa for nationals of these countries is €35. Additionally, certain categories of applicants (e.g. students, researchers, or children under 6 years) are issued a visa free of charge. For more information on visa policy and residence permits, please see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic website.Personal Data Protection
The processing of personal data, i.e. data that refer to particular natural persons, is an integral part of the Schengen cooperation, as sharing certain information (e.g. on persons refused entry in the territory of Schengen countries or stolen vehicles) is necessary for effective ensuring of security in the Schengen area. Due to this cooperation, a large amount of sensitive and/or personal information is transferred among individual member states, and the misuse or loss of which may lead to a significant infringement of personal rights of the individual concerned. Therefore, strict rules regulate the collecting, storing, transmitting or other processing of personal data in connection with Schengen cooperation (both at the international level, rules contained in particular in the Schengen Implementing Convention, and in national legislation of Schengen member states), and independent supervisory bodies are responsible for monitoring their observation. The Personal Data Protection Act primarily governs the rules regarding the protection of personal data in the Czech Republic, but certain issues related to data processing within areas of Schengen cooperation are regulated by other legislation. The Office for Personal Data Protection is an independent supervisory authority of the Czech Republic. This office is authorized to check the processing of personal data, including data collected for purposes relating to the Czech Republic’s Schengen membership, and which guarantees that the rights of data subjects are observed. This Office also cooperates on matters related to data protection and the Schengen Information System (SIS) with other member states. Any person (irrespective of his or her nationality) has the right to ask the Office for Personal Data Protection to check the processing of his/her personal data entered in the Schengen Information System (SIS). The concrete procedure to be carried out by the Office with respect to the exercise of this right is stipulated in the Czech legislation. Since the Czech Republic connected to the SIS, the Office for Personal Data Protection has been authorized to examine, upon a request of a data subject (i.e. a person to whom the data relate), if his or her data in the SIS have been processed lawfully, and to notify the requesting person of the results of its enquiry. The Personal Data Protection Act and the Code of Administrative Procedure govern the handling of such requests. For more information on personal data protection, and/or its relation to the SIS, see the website of the Office for Personal Data Protection.The Schengen Information System (SIS)
The Schengen Information System (SIS) is a joint database used mainly for searching for persons (wanted, missing, undesirable) and objects (cars, registration plates, travel and personal documents, registration documents for cars, bank notes, weapons, etc.) of interest in the Schengen area. All Schengen member states enter data into the SIS directly from their national databases. The SIS is a prerequisite for the abolition of checks at the internal borders. The Czech Republic formally entered the SIS system on September 1, 2007. Since that time, Czech police and judicial authorities have had access, and contributed to, the entirety of the SIS. All law enforcement officers have a level of access to the system analogous to their level of access to their national databases. The SIS responds to the queries in the inquirer’s native language. In this way, it is ensured that searching data from other member states has the same application as a national search. The maximum time between the launch of a search in one country and the moment the alert is accessible to all Schengen countries through the SIS is 120 seconds. Thus, the system contributes significantly to the effectiveness and efficiency of international search, compensating for the abolition of internal border checks. In the Schengen area, the following types of searches are conducted through the SIS. Individual search types are laid down in the relevant articles of the Schengen Implementing Convention as follows:- Art. 95 – search for persons for the purposes of surrender/extradition
- Art. 96 – refusal of entry to a foreign national from a third country
- Art. 97 – missing persons, persons who need to be placed under police protection
- Art. 98 – search for the place of residence for judicial purposes – witnesses, summoned persons, persons who are to be served with a criminal judgment
- Art. 99 – discreet surveillance or specific check of a person or vehicle
- Art. 100 – search for stolen, lost, misappropriated or invalidated objects or objects needed as evidence in criminal proceedings – motor vehicles, weapons, completed documents, blank documents, and registered bank notes.
Autor: Euroskop
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Schengen enlargement: free movement of persons, abolition of
border checks etc.
- How can criminals be detected when their travel documents are not checked?
- May a Schengen Member State restrict free movement of a citizen of another Schengen state? If yes, under what
conditions? - What happened with the customs officers at the borders?
- When somebody has been refused entry to the Czech Republic and acquires a visa e.g. in France, how do we
prevent his/her entry to the Czech territory?
Schengen Information System (SIS)
- How can I learn that my personal data has been registered in the Schengen Information System?
- What data are kept in the Schengen Information System?
- Who can search the data kept in the SIS?
- Who has access to the data in the SIS in the Czech Republic?
- Is an alert in the SIS a reason for refusing entry to the Schengen territory?
How can criminals be detected when their travel documents are not checked?
Any state wishing to join the Schengen area must implement all measures compensating for the abolition of police
checks at the internal borders – the Schengen standards. These Schengen standards include very close police and
judicial cooperation; such a level could not be achieved outside the framework of the preparations related to the
Schengen enlargement. Thus, if it was possible to escape justice by staying in another country, since joining Schengen
it is only a matter of time before such a person is detected.
In particular, the Schengen Information System (SIS) presents an immensely powerful instrument for detecting persons
who have violated the law. This database of wanted persons and objects contains more than 27 millions of alerts (as of
November 2008). In the Czech Republic, access to the SIS data is provided to practically all police officers of the
Criminal, Public Order, Traffic, and Alien Police.
For security reasons and for a limited period of time, it is also possible in exceptional cases to temporarily
reintroduce border control at internal (land) borders and carry out regular checks at border crossing points.
May a Schengen Member State restrict free movement of a citizen of another Schengen state? If yes, under what
conditions?
The right of free movement of another Member State’s citizens may also be restricted, but only if they pose a threat
to public policy, public security and public health. In an exceptional case, such persons may even be expelled from
the given state’s territory. This, however, has no effect on their free movement in the territories of other Member
States.
What happened with the customs officers at the borders?
Customs officers already left the land border crossing points in May 2004, when the Czech Republic, by entering the
EU, became also a member of the EU internal market. Thus only officers of the Alien and Border Police remained at the
land border crossing points.
After the integration of the Czech Republic to Schengen, these police officers also finished their work of protecting
the land borders. A part of them has been reassigned to the Traffic and Public Order Police, where they can use their
former experience. The rest of the officers of the Alien Police has been assigned tasks related to the stay of aliens.
The presence of the police in the border regions has been maintained.
When somebody has been refused entry to the Czech Republic and acquires a visa e.g. in France, how do we
prevent his/her entry to the Czech territory?
The Czech Republic has been entering all alerts on persons to be refused entry to the Schengen territory to the
Schengen Information System (SIS). All third-country nationals (except for third-country nationals enjoying the
Community right of free movement) are thoroughly checked when crossing the external Schengen borders, including a
check in the SIS. In case of a hit, they are refused entry.
Persons registered in the SIS are usually not granted a visa. Exceptionally, a visa can be granted in justified cases
also to persons who do not meet all conditions for entry. In such a case, however, the visa validity is limited to the
territory of the state which has issued the visa, and other countries must be informed of this measure.
Thus, if the Czech Republic entered an alert in the SIS for the purpose of refusing entry, the French authorities, if
they were interested in granting a visa, would have to consult the Czech authorities before deciding to grant or
refuse such visa. If France decided to grant the visa even so, it would have to be only a national visa limited only
to the French territory. The fact that a visa with a limited territorial validity has been issued must be announced to
other Schengen partners.
The Czech authorities may subsequently detect the presence of such a person in the Czech territory by regular police
checks.
How can I learn that my personal data have been registered in the Schengen Information System?
You are entitled to inquire whether and what personal data concerning you is
contained in the Schengen Information System (SIS), why it has been entered (for which purpose) and by which
authority.
At the same time, you are guaranteed the right to have factually inaccurate data (i.e.
inaccurately entered) processed in the SIS concerning you corrected and any unlawfully stored data (such which should
not have been entered at all) deleted from the SIS.
These rights are exercised always in compliance with the
national legislation of the country in which they are claimed and the relevant procedures in individual Member States
may therefore differ. In the Czech Republic, it is necessary to address primarily the administrator of personal data
(Police of the Czech Republic – postal address: Policie ČR, Policejní prezidium ČR, Strojnická 27, Praha 7, 170 89),
and if this request is not satisfied, or if you find the response unsatisfactory, you may contact the Office for Personal Data
Protection, and ask for a review of the procedure of processing your personal data.
How is the protection of personal data ensured?
As the SIS contains a large amount of information, including personal and sensitive data, its use must be regulated
by very strict data protection rules, the observation of which is supervised by independent authorities (in the Czech
Republic by the Office for Personal Data Protection). Moreover, everybody has the right to inquire if and what
personal data is kept on them in the SIS, for what purpose it was entered and by which authority. If it proves that
the data is incorrect, the person concerned has the right to have them corrected, or deleted. The right to
information, correction or deletion of data is closely connected with the right to bring before the court an action to
correct, delete or obtain information on the processing of one’s personal data, or to obtain compensation in
connection with the processing of one’s personal data.
In the Czech Republic, the protection of personal data in the SIS is ensured, inter alia, as follows:
Access to the SIS has been provided only to authorised users. Every end user (i.e. a person having access to the SIS
data) is provided with specified rights of access on a need-to-know basis. All accesses to the SIS are logged, i.e. it
is subsequently any time possible to verify by whom, when, where and for what purpose the data in the SIS were
screened. Compliance with strict rules is examined through internal mechanisms of each relevant authority as well as
by means of external supervision, including inspections by an independent supervisory authority.
Within the Police of the Czech Republic, a competent officer – an authorized user with a clearly defined user role –
has access to the SIS data through a unified query procedure. This applied already beforehand for the search in the
national police databases. Since September 2007, selected police officers use this procedure to query also the SIS,
only to the extent necessary for meeting the purpose of the alert.
What data are kept in the Schengen Information System?
The Schengen Information System (SIS) contains only selected data on:
- persons to be arrested for the purposes of surrender pursuant to the European Arrest Warrant or extradition in
cases when the European Arrest Warrant is not applied; - aliens to be refused entry to the Schengen territory (concerns only nationals of third countries, i.e. countries
which are not part of the EU/Schengen; family members of EU citizens do not fall in this category), - missing persons;
- witnesses and persons summoned by judicial authorities for the purposes of criminal proceedings;
- persons or vehicles for the purpose of discreet surveillance or specific checks;
- objects sought as evidence in criminal proceedings (e.g. motor vehicles, weapons, banknotes, documents etc.).
All data contained in the SIS is entered by individual Schengen states. Strict conditions of data protection apply to
the SIS and their observation is ensured by rigorous control mechanisms. For instance, any person may inquire if and
what personal data concerning him/her is kept in the SIS and for what purpose it was entered. If the answer of the
data administrator (Police of the Czech Republic) is not satisfactory, they may address the competent supervisory body
(Office for Personal Data Protection).
- For more information see the information leaflet with general information on the SIS and your related rights. (pdf; 91
kB).
Who can search the data kept in the SIS?
Access to data in the SIS and the right to search these data is exclusively limited to the authorities of the
Schengen states competent to carry out border checks and other police and customs checks inside their countries and
vicariously also judicial authorities. In addition, visa-issuing authorities and authorities responsible for granting
residence permits or asylum have access to data regarding aliens to be refused entry to the Schengen area. Authorities
responsible for the registration of vehicles have access to the data on sought vehicles.
Who has access to the data in the SIS in the Czech Republic?
In the same way as in the present Schengen states, access to the SIS is limited only to selected authorities which
need the SIS data for execution of their tasks as defined by the law.
The authority which uses the SIS most extensively during its everyday work is the Police of the Czech Republic. The
police operate the national SIS unit (N. SIS); the SIRENE Office provides additional information to alerts kept in the
SIS and facilitate international communication. The Police also have the largest number of SIS users: as many as
approx. 18, 000 PC terminals have access to the SIS; it is possible to enter Czech alerts to the SIS from
approximately 1, 300 terminals.
Other authorities, which are allowed to retrieve data from the SIS, include the Customs Administration, the Asylum
and Migration Policy Department of the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Transport, or more precisely,
authorities registering motor vehicles.
Indirectly, i.e. through the Police of the Czech Republic, the SIS data are available also to judicial authorities
during criminal proceedings and diplomatic missions of the Czech Republic during the processing of visa applications
by the Police of the Czech Republic.
As a part of its supervisory powers, the Office for Personal Data Protection also have access to the data processed
in the SIS.
Is an alert in the SIS a reason for refusing entry to the Schengen territory?
Yes and no. An alert in the SIS is one of the reasons for refusing entry to the Schengen territory. However, in case
of family members of persons enjoying the Community right of free movement, it must always be considered whether the
presence of such a person in the territory of a Schengen state presents a real, current and sufficiently serious
threat to some fundamental interest of the Schengen states
Autor: Euroskop