Schengen: Six months work programme
01 January 1997
The work programme, for January-June 1997, of the Schengen agreement under the Portuguese Presidency has as its priority the full entry of Italy, Greece and Austria. Austria is expected to be the first with its planned entry in October this year. This goes together with ensuring the entry into force of the Accession Agreements with Denmark, Finland and Sweden and the Cooperation Agreements with Norway and Iceland.
Schengen officials are carrying out inspections of border controls in the first three countries - Italy (February), Greece (March), Austria (April) - to ensure they meet Schengen standards. "Ensuring the quality of borders is one of the preconditions of accession", said Wouter van de Rijt, Schengen coordinator. These visits will be followed by ones to the states in the Nordic Passport Union.
The seven members of the Schengen Agreement taking full part - Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain - have to unanimously ratify each new entrants' full participation.
New entrants also have to ensure that their police, immigration and customs computer systems are compatible with the Schengen Information System (SIS). This despite the fact that there is a problem at the SIS base in Strasbourg with the "particular concern about progress in the work for the "second generation" of the SIS".
Among the targets of the sub-groups are: Police and security: "to develop projects on police cooperation at the internal borders" and "to develop police cooperation in the area of immigration" and Sub-group "borders": to "determine conditions for the entry and transit of third country nationals who are in possession of a member state's residence permit and are
wanted in the SIS" (emphasis in original).
Kurdish folk group excluded by Schengen
A Kurdish folk group, "Koma Amed", part of Centro Mesopotamia which exists to make Kurdish culture and music more widely known (a serious crime in Turkey), could not attend a summer competition in the town of Ubarco because they were refused entry to Spain. The group applied to the Spanish Consulate in Istanbul for the necessary visas to enter Spain but were refused, in just half an hour, because after a check on the Schengen Information System they were told that certain Schengen countries had vetoed their entry. The group have recently appeared in a dozen or so European countries including Belgium, Germany and Italy.
Work Programme of the Portuguese Presidency for 1997 (first six months), Central Group, 12.12.96; IRR European Race Audit, Bulletin no 21.