On June 14, 1985, representatives from five countries—Belgium, France, West Germany, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands—gathered in the small village of Schengen near the Moselle River in Luxembourg. They signed a treaty to eliminate border checkpoints. This was an attempt to unify the European continent, which had been marred by division and conflict.
Forty years later, the Schengen Agreement has established itself as one of the two pillars driving European integration alongside the euro. Currently, 29 member countries with a population of 450 million move freely and live without the awareness of borders under the Schengen Agreement.
According to the European Commission's 2025 Schengen Annual Report, over 1.3 billion trips occur each year within the Schengen system. Each day, 1.7 million people commute across the borders erased by the Schengen Agreement.
The scale of intra-regional trade reaches €4.1 trillion (approximately 580 trillion won). The tariff reduction effect resulting from the removal of border controls is estimated to be an average of 0.7%.
However, the Schengen Agreement, having reached the age of maturity, is precarious. The tower built on 40 years of 'a borderless Europe' is now shaking under the waves of illegal immigration and the threat of terrorism.
On the 16th (local time), the political media outlet Politico reported that as refugee and terrorism issues have become frequent, the heart of Europe is retreating from the Schengen Agreement signed 40 years ago and is firmly locking its borders once again.
According to Politico, out of the 29 EU member states, 10 major countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria have officially notified the European Commission of their plans to reintroduce border checkpoints.
Germany reinstated border checks at all land borders with Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Poland last September. As a result, 1,000 people were denied entry within a month, and 1,700 illegal entrants were detected.
France has maintained regional border controls every six months for nearly ten years since the Paris attacks in 2015. In April of this year, the control period was extended once again. In France, strengthening borders has become a key pledge of far-right parties during election seasons.
The Schengen Agreement was implemented with the aim of effectively abolishing borders between countries to create 'a united Europe.' It was a strategic move based on the idea that Europe could eventually become 'one federal state' like the United States in the long run.
Instead of managing entry and exit individually as before, the agreement collectively secured only external borders while dismantling 'internal borders' to maximize the movement of people and goods. This directly translated into economic benefits for each nation, including reduced administrative expenses and enhanced supply chain efficiency.
However, facing issues of immigration and security, countries are turning back to a survival of the fittest mentality, asserting, 'We will guard our own borders.'
According to the European Commission, approximately 239,000 immigrants illegally entered the EU last year. Although this is a slight decrease compared to 385,000 in 2023, it represents an almost threefold increase compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2020.
Naturally, voices expressing concern over public safety have emerged in various European countries. This has led to a rise in far-right political movements, resulting in serious political and social issues.
As the symbol of European integration shakes at its roots, the European Commission is accelerating digitalization to enhance border management efficiency and address security vulnerabilities.
With the strategy of Smart Borders, which aims to control external borders with advanced technology, there is an intention to seal the crisis faced by the Schengen Agreement. The 2025 Schengen Report stated, 'Accelerating digitalization in entry and exit procedures and systems is the top priority.'
From next year, the EU will fully launch the Entry-Exit System (EES), automating the record-keeping of entry and exit for non-EU nationals using biometrics such as fingerprints and facial recognition. The introduction of the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), similar to the U.S. visa waiver program (ESTA), is also being expedited. Instead of leaving internal borders open, they aim to significantly raise the threshold for entry from outside, fundamentally blocking potential risks.
Experts have expressed concern that if border checks are resumed in a situation where far-right forces are advocating for the abolition of the Schengen Agreement, the meaning of European integration will diminish. If countries begin border controls under the guise of 'temporary' measures and soon make them permanent, the Schengen system is likely to collapse.
Politico analyzed, 'The collapse of the Schengen system signals a retreat of the European single market and a fundamental setback in the European integration project,' emphasizing that political will for resolution is more important than technical solutions.