European Union is poised to restrict passport-free travel — APNewsBreak

Some EU states have re-imposed border controls on a temporary basis.

Greece now has three months to remedy “serious deficiencies” that have pushed the Schengen area to the brink of collapse after over million migrants flooded into Europe via the country’s uncontrolled Aegean Sea borders past year.

“It is of utmost important that Greece addresses the issues identified in the report adopted by the Commission as a matter of priority and urgency”, a statement from the ministers read, according to AFP news agency. This could be renewed for further six-month periods, up to a maximum of two years.

The rules are an emergency provision to protect the Schengen agreement, which tore down borders across mainland Europe in 1995.

This new move would allow other Schengen states to strengthen control of their own borders in the meantime.

Such a scenario is outlined under article 26 of the Schengen border code. The troubled country will now have three months to fix its borders as thousands of refugees continue to stream to its shores on their way to other European countries.

In a meeting with European Union ambassadors in Brussels on Wednesday, Greece registered its objections to the recommendation to be adopted.

Two weeks ago, a draft report by the Commission found it had “seriously neglected” its obligation to maintain Schengen’s external border.

The council website said Greece had to take action on registration procedures, sea border surveillance, border checks, risk analyses, human resources and training as well as equipment and global cooperation.

Since the beginning of 2015, more than 1 million migrants have entered the European Union. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal refugee policy, is not sustainable in the long run, French PM Manuel Valls warned Friday. “The EU has completely failed to solve the migration crisis”, Mr Zeman said.

“If you don’t do this, you are in a lawless zone and controls could last forever”.