The EU Commission wants the member states to justify the temporary introduction of controls at internal borders better and to consider alternatives first.

On Tuesday, she presented corresponding proposals for the revision of the Schengen Borders Code, with which she draws lessons from the chaotic closure of internal borders during the coronavirus pandemic.

If a majority of states is threatened, border controls should in future be based on a legally binding Council decision.

So far, each member state has made its own decisions and reported its conditions to Brussels.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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In addition, such temporary border controls should be in force for a maximum of two years, except “under very special circumstances”.

After 18 months, the Commission should be obliged to issue an opinion on the necessity and proportionality of the measures.

This would strengthen the control function.

So far, the Commission is only "allowed" to issue opinions - a means that it has never used during the pandemic, although there have been a number of legally questionable decisions by the states.

Stricter entry regulations into the Schengen area from third countries should also be legally binding in the future; so far it has only been a matter of recommendations, some of which have been implemented very differently by the EU states. Portugal, for example, allowed British tourists to enter the country in early summer, even though the United Kingdom was not on a positive list. The unilateral step led to a widespread use of the Delta variant in Portugal - and a further lockdown. The tourists were able to move freely in the Schengen area.

Another change is relevant for Germany and other countries that are heavily affected by secondary migration.

The Commission proposes that instead of formal border controls, states set up joint police patrols to control the hinterland.

If irregular migrants who have come from the other country are picked up during such patrols, they can automatically be returned there, even if they ask for asylum again.

This corresponds roughly to a practice that is already common today between the Italian and French border police.

The prerequisite for this are bilateral agreements on police cooperation.