Revision of the Schengen Borders Code

In December 2021, the European Commission presented a proposal to amend the Schengen Borders Code, which lays down the rules governing controls at the EU internal and external borders. While debates on the reform of Schengen have been going on for a while, recent challenges – relating to the coronavirus pandemic on the one hand, and attempts to instrumentalise migrants as a way to put pressure on the EU's external borders, on the other – have created new momentum for reform. The Commission's proposal aims to improve the Schengen system's resilience to serious threats, and to adapt it to new challenges. It introduces a new coordination mechanism to deal with health threats at the external borders and a new Schengen safeguard mechanism to provide a common response at the internal borders in situations of threats affecting Member States, including the possibility to transfer irregular migrants apprehended at the internal borders directly back to the competent authorities in the EU country from which it is assumed they just came, without undergoing an individual assessment. Following the provisional agreement reached by the co-legislators in December 2023, Parliament is scheduled to vote on the agreed text during its April II plenary session. Second edition. The 'EU Legislation in Progress' briefings are updated at key stages throughout the legislative procedure.