Remarks by Vice-President Schinas at the Schengen Forum.

European Commission
Speech
Brussels, 30 November 2020

 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Ministers, Honourable Members of the European Parliament,  Schengen is the jewel in the crown of European integration. Schengen has become part of our European way of life, and is an important element for making us feel not only Greeks or Swedes or Germans or Poles, but Europeans.  The Schengen area is the largest free travel area in the world. It allows more than 400 million EU citizens, as well as visitors, to move freely and goods and services to flow unhindered.  President von der Leyen – whom we will hear from in a moment –referred to it in her State of the Union speech as the linchpin of the single market and its four freedoms.   And I think that's the right way to look at it. Schengen isn't just about borders, it's about the economy.    At it's heart Schengen is the absence of internal border controls. But it is also much, much more than that.   It is a common commitment to effectively protect our external borders.   It is efficient police...
 
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