Schengen area meaning

In this issue: Free trade agreements Anti-dumping Safeguards Customs LexTalk®International Trade: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Free trade agreements Commission adopts proposals for EU-UK agreement on Gibraltar The European Commission has signed off proposals covering the signature, provisional application and conclusion of an agreement between the EU and the UK regarding Gibraltar. Designed to round out the legal architecture of EU–UK relations created by the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, from which Gibraltar was left outside, the initiative seeks to eliminate physical obstacles to the movement of people and goods between Spain and Gibraltar, while preserving the integrity of the Schengen area. The package now goes to the Council to take the steps needed for signature and conclusion, and the European Parliament must give its consent in line with the EU treaties. This move follows a political understanding reached in June 2025 by Maroš Šefčovič, EU Commissioner for Trade and...

Jump to: General Brexit headlines Brexit SIs and sifting updates Made Brexit SIs laid in Parliament Draft Brexit SIs laid in Parliament Post-Brexit transition guidance Editor's picks—the practice area/sector view New and updated Brexit related content Updated Practice Note LexTalk®Brexit: a Lexis®Nexis community Useful information General Brexit headlines This section highlights the principal overarching Brexit news headlines. ESC publishes letter criticising EU-UK Gibraltar agreement The European Scrutiny Committee (ESC) has issued a letter from its Chair, Sir William Cash, to the Foreign Minister, David Rutley, criticising the proposed EU-UK arrangement governing Gibraltar’s frontier with Spain. He maintains that the plans described by ministers during an evidence session on 30 April 2024 amount to a ‘serious diminution of UK sovereignty’. The correspondence also questions how UK nationals and Gibraltarians would be processed if Schengen controls were applied at Gibraltar’s airport. Additional points raised include defence and security risks linked to the airport’s border...

In this issue: EU fundamentals Competition and state aid Data protection and cybersecurity Free movement, immigration and employment Financial services Energy Environment IP Life sciences Regulatory TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content EU fundamentals European Commission releases May 2024 infringement package The Commission has published the May 2024 infringement package, setting out the EU Member States it is taking action against for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law. The May 2024 package comprises formal letters of notice to Portugal for not correctly transposing Directive 92/43/EEC (the Habitats Directive), to Italy for failing to fully and correctly transpose Directive (EU) 2019/904 (the Single-Use Plastics Directive) and for breaching obligations under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 (the Single Market Transparency Directive), and it also refers Italy to the Court of Justice for failure to ensure the correct implementation of Directive 2014/89/EU (the Directive establishing...

The removal of internal border checks across the Schengen Area stands as one of the EU’s landmark achievements, shaping and embedding the European societal model and way of life. Yet major developments—such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and rising irregular migration—have exposed shortcomings and loopholes in Schengen border management. To address the migration challenges faced by Member States and to uphold border-free movement within Schengen, significant revisions were adopted in 2024. This Practice Note concentrates on Regulation (EU) 2016/399, the Union Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (codification), which sets out the conditions for movement to and from the area without internal border control, as well as between participating Member States. It also reflects the 2024 amendments, drawing out the principal features of the current framework and outlining the accompanying instruments that clarify how the Schengen borders management system operates. Notably, the free movement of persons within the EEC was among the core aims of the Treaty of Rome (1958–1967), laying the foundations for today’s...

EU external border governance has been in continual flux, driven in particular by the exceptional influx of refugees, irregular migration, and the digitalisation of control mechanisms. A closer look at amendments to the Schengen Borders Code also makes clear how lessons from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have shaped its evolution over recent years. The EU’s principal aims here include progressively creating an integrated management framework for the external frontiers, strengthening backing for migration management, intensifying action against cross-border crime, and bolstering national authorities to improve internal security. The ‘EU Migration and Asylum’ policy forms a significant strand of external border control more broadly. Nevertheless, this Practice Note does not examine that policy; instead it concentrates on the general Schengen visa regime, the core instruments and platforms already deployed—the Visa Information System (VIS) and the Schengen Information System (SIS)—and those still awaiting operation—the Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation system (ETIAS). Background information To begin with, when considering the EU cross-border control architecture and its...

This EU tracker covers case law in the following areas: EU immigration policy Free movement of EU citizens New Pact on Migration and Asylum with a special focus on legal immigration Case law Case: A.B. v Ministerstvo vnitra, Odbor azylové a migrační politiky, Case C-349/24 Judgment date: 5 June 2025 Key facts/Analysis: An application arose in litigation between a non-EU national and the Czech Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Asylum and Migration Policy, challenging a decision refusing that person international protection. The reference asks how Article 3 of Directive 2011/95/EU should be construed. That provision concerns the scope for Member States to introduce more generous rules within the EU framework setting qualification standards for third‑country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, establishing a uniform status for refugees or those eligible for subsidiary protection, and outlining the substance of the protection afforded. The Court determined that Article 3 must be read as excluding, from the category...