Mensajepor Mr_Baca » Mar Sep 13, 2011 11:02 am
DJ France, Germany, Spain:Governments Must Keep Control Of Border Checks
13-Sep-2011
BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--The French, German and Spanish governments Tuesday said that national governments must keep ultimate control over border checks and cannot cede these decisions to the European Commission.
The Commission is reportedly planning to make a proposal Friday that member states can reimpose border controls for five days without permission after which the European Union's executive arm would have the power to order the checks lifted. The change would make Brussels the ultimate arbiter of the EU's Schengen passport-free travel area.
In a joint statement Tuesday afternoon, the three governments said they could not accept ceding these powers.
"We believe that respecting the core area of national sovereignty is very important to the Member States. We therefore do not share the European Commission's views on assuming responsibility for making decisions on operational measures in the security field," they said.
The governments added that "the decision whether to reintroduce temporary checks at the internal borders is based on an intensive assessment of the national security situation, which can only be carried out by the Member States on the basis of the expertise and resources of their security authorities."
A Commission spokesman said earlier this week he could not confirm details of the proposal the Commission would make.
