Will Greeks return to passports?

It seems that Greeks, along with other Europeans, might return to the use of passports for traveling within the EU. The European Commission today submitted a proposal concerning greater freedom in the reinstatement of controls at national borders within the Schengen area, as asked by the French authorities, who are worried about the arrival of Tunisian immigrants crossing over from Italy.

The temporary re-introduction of international border controls will be allowed in case of a country’s “weakness”, the frontier lines of which are at the outer borders of the EU, said the commissioner for immigration issues, Cecilia Malmström. Also, this will apply when part of the outer EU borders comes under heavy unexpected pressure from immigrants, she added.

The two cases cited by the Commission were emphasized by France and are based on Greece’s inability to control its borders with Turkey and the decision of the Italian authorities to temporarily adjust the status of about 25.000 Tunisian immigrants who arrived in Italy stating their intentions to travel to France.

Malmström’s proposals will be discussed in a special meeting of the European Interior ministers on May 12 in Brussels, before reaching the EU summit in June.