Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 20, 1990 TAG: 9006200130
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: PARIS LENGTH: Medium
The agreement is expected to come into effect sometime early in 1992, after it has been ratified by the five Parliaments and German unification has been completed.
Under the pact, border checks will be lifted to permit free movement within the five-nation zone. But the five governments plan to tighten immigration and police controls on those entering the area.
The agreement, which has been under negotiation for five years, is known by the name of the Luxembourg town called Schengen, where it was signed. What has come to be known informally as Schengenland will eventually stretch from the Atlantic to the Oder and Neisse Rivers.
"We're not interested in creating a sort of Schengen citizenship," said Hubert Blanc, France's chief negotiator.
"There'll be no Schengen visa. That would be ridiculous. Rather, we see ourselves as serving as a laboratory for the rest of the community."
The five nations had originally planned to sign the Schengen accord in December, but West Germany asked for a postponement on the ground that it did not take account of the rapid pace of developments in Eastern Europe and, particularly, moves toward German reunification.
After East Germany's elections in March set the stage for creation of a single German nation, however, the five governments moved rapidly to complete their agreement.
The Schengen agreement is expected to go into effect months before the European Community's deadline for removing all internal border controls on Jan. 1, 1993. But the five governments say they believe their experience should help speed the Twelve's own integration process.
The so-called Schengen countries have yet to iron out many details, including the difficult question of access to a common data bank to be set up in Strasbourg, France, over the next two years. This is necessary to track wanted criminals, but it raises the problem of coordinating privacy laws.
The accord today provides a blueprint for the entire community in other areas. For example, with immigration now a major political issue in Western Europe, the five have drawn up a list of 104 countries whose nationals will require visas to enter the area. The list can only be altered by common consent.
Visitors from other countries will be allowed to spend up to three months in the Schengen region without visas and without showing any documents at internal borders.
by CNB