Schengen: Nordic Passport Union position
01 March 1995
Meeting in Reykjavik on 27 February the Prime Ministers of the Nordic Union agreed a report prepared by the Danish Presidency which called for:
"a Nordic arrangement with the Schengen Cooperation so as not to create new borders within or between the Nordic area and the rest of Europe"
Under the Nordic Passport Control Agreement for 40 years there has been free movement between the members of the Nordic Council, founded in 1952 - Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland together with the autonomous territories of the Faroes, Greenland (Denmark) and the åland Islands. Through the Nordic Justice and Interior Ministers the statement says:
"the Nordic countries have for many years cooperated with a view to combatting crime, drugs and illegal immigration."
The Prime Ministers agreed that the countries wanting to apply for membership of the Schengen Agreement - Denmark (already with observer status), Sweden and Finland - would only do so if it is agreed that Norway and Iceland are also admitted.
They maintain that the checks already carried out at their external borders match those of the Schengen countries. The meeting concluded that the Prime Ministers were "ready to start negotiations with the Schengen countries with a view to finding a practical solution that meets the interests of the Nordic countries as well as the Schengen countries".
To effect this solution the Schengen countries would have to agree to two non-EU countries - Norway and Iceland - becoming members, at the moment only members of the EU can join the Schengen Agreement. For these two countries it will involve not just a continuation of the existing free movement arrangements but also of providing to the Schengen Information System (SIS) with list of people wanted, deported, and to be excluded - which may raise civil liberties issues for them.
The Nordic Passport Union in a European Context, Statement by the Prime Ministers of the Nordic countries, Reykjavik, 27.2.95; Information note from the Danish delegation concerning the discussions in the Nordic Passport Union on ways in which Denmark can meet its obligations under the Community Member States' Convention on the crossing of the external borders, ref: SN 2245/91 WGI 798, Confidential, 15.5.91; Information, Copenhagen.