Switzerland joins EU's passport-free zone

16.12.2008

Switzerland was ending systematic passport controls at most of its land borders Friday, December 12-th, 2009, becoming the 25th nation to join Europe's continentwide zone of open frontiers.

Swiss accession to the borderless travel zone at midnight closed a gap at the heart of an area that stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean. The move will allow travelers to freely cross Switzerland's land borders from France, Germany, Italy or Austria, all of which have implemented the so-called Schengen agreement.

Switzerland will stop checking passports on planes arriving from Schengen countries from March 29, 2009. The agreement is named after a small town in Luxembourg where it was first signed in 1985.

Swiss authorities have been preparing travelers for the change, with border guards at Geneva's busy Bardonnex checkpoint handing out 40,000 leaflets Thursday morning to commuters streaming across from neighboring France.

The Swiss, who are not members of the 27-nation European Union, will keep their strict customs restrictions, but identity checks had already become the exception rather than the rule ahead of the Dec. 12 joining date.

The biggest change will be for some non-European nationals living in Switzerland who previously needed a visa to travel to Schengen countries, a requirement that will now be dropped. "If you're Bolivian with permanent residency in Switzerland, for example, you can now go to France for up to three months without applying for a visa," said Michel Bachar, spokesman for Geneva's border guard corps.

The second major change involves increased cooperation between law enforcement agencies throughout the borderless zone. Since August Switzerland has had access to the Schengen Information System, a vast database of wanted criminals and stolen goods that has already flagged up 2,000 alerts at Swiss borders.

The whole agreement could be put on hold again next year if Swiss nationalists succeed in overturning a deal between Bern and Brussels that allows EU citizens to live and work freely in Switzerland. A referendum on the issue is planned for February.

One of the quirks of the Schengen agreement is that for the first time in 84 years the Swiss will have to start patrolling their border with Liechtenstein. The tiny principality, wedged between Switzerland and Austria and with a population of only 35,000, is expected to join the borderless zone at the end of 2009.

Until then, the 26-mile (41-kilometer) border will be monitored around the clock by closed-circuit television and mobile patrols, an effort that border guard chief Damian Curschellas says is unlikely to net many criminals or illegal immigrants.