Personal checks at internal air and sea borders, i.e. at airports and seaports, will initially be eliminated.
A decision on lifting controls at land borders will be made at a later date. The Schengen area is intended to ensure unrestricted movement of people in Europe. It now includes 25 of the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Romania and Bulgaria had been waiting to join the EU since 2011 but the EU heads of state and government did not agree for a long time.