Switzerland: Back door into Schengen?
01 January 1998
Switzerland is trying to join the Schengen group through the back door. For the last two years, the Swiss Justice Ministry has been negotiating bilateral readmission agreements, agreements on police cooperation and general security matters with Germany and Austria. The negotiations have taken place in secret without parliamentary consultation. Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed with Austria on 8 October 1997 and Germany on 11 December 1997. These Memoranda do not need to be ratified by the parliament. They include the following measures:
* regular joint police conferences including the regional police forces of the border regions, the border police which is under central authority and customs;
* joint analysis of the crime situation at the border, in particular regarding illegal immigration;
* division of labour in border control activities;
* information exchange about crime and "godfathers/puppetmasters";
* establishment of border police contact points and appointment of liaison officers on both sides;
* improved communication facilities: exchange of radio sets, inclusion of Switzerland in the planned EU police radio frequencies;
* joint investigation and observation teams acting on both sides of the border; the respective foreign officers will have observer status.
As Switzerland and Germany renewed a readmission agreement in 1993, the Swiss-German MoU includes a clause on the facilitation of readmission procedures. This includes joint quotas for deportations on charter flights which will particularly affect people from Kosovo. Both Switzerland and Germany concluded readmission agreements with the Belgrade government in 1997 and 1996 respectively.
Negotiations with Germany on an agreement on police cooperation and general security matters are close to completion. In contrast to the MoU, this agreement will need to be ratified. The head of the Swiss delegation, Peter Huber, former head of the political police and now director of the Federal Office for Migration, declared in October last year that the agreement will include regulations for cross-border undercover police activities, cross-border observation and hot pursuit. The cross-border police activities will not be limited to a restricted border area as is the case in most Schengen member states. An authorization by one canton for hot pursuit will be valid for the whole country. Theoretically, German police could cross Switzerland from Basel to Chiasso by the Italian border.upda