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Malta to join Schengen in December

Internal land and sea border to nine new Member States will be abolished as from 21st ,December 2007 and this abolition will be extended to air borders by March 2008.

Malta will be one of the nine countries joining the Schengen zone at the above dates together with Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Czech Republic. Cyprus, the 10th new entrant on 1st May, 2004 has requested a one year delay. The latest two entrants to the EU, i.e. Romania and Bulgaria are not considered ready to implement the convention.

Of the 27 EU member states, therefore, apart from the above three countries, only the UK and Ireland are still out of the Schengen zone. The latter two countries only participate in the agreement in the area of police and judicial cooperation.Two non-EU nations, Norway and Iceland, are also part of the Schengen zone.

Within the zone, which currently covers 3.6 million square kilometres, people will be able to move freely, without border checks. The main aim of the Schengen Convention is to enable greater freedom of movement for persons while introducing all compensatory measures needed to maintain and reinforce the right level of security. This is done through the abolition of internal border controls between the participating countries and the establishment of common external borders as well as through harmonisation of the entry conditions and the conditions for crossing external borders along with the policy on issuing visas.

A brand new Schengen arrival terminal was on inaugurated on 11th June,2007 by Malta’s Prime Minister Gonzi, seen in the photograph above together MIA`s Chief Executive Officer Peter Bolech and Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech.

The first of the two conditions needed for joining was met by the nine in early September when the countries plugged into an electronic database that allows authorities to swap details on wanted people, objects or vehicles.

For the second condition, concerning the security of their borders with non-EU countries, experts have over the last year inspected the controls and described them as "satisfying".

The move is expected to free up travel and give a boost to economic activity to the countries which joined the EU in 2004.

Disclaimer

The above information is being provided as a general guide only and should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice.