Switzerland will become part of the Schengen area next month under an agreement formalized by European Union interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday.
Thursday's agreement means that Switzerland must abolish identity checks at land borders from December 12, and at airports from next March.
The Schengen area was created to facilitate the free movement of persons within the European Union. Initially, it included France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands but now encompasses most of the EU, except the United Kingdom, Ireland and Cyprus, which have chosen to remain outside of the borderless zone, and Romania and Bulgaria, which have not yet met the criteria to join the Schengen area.
Switzerland's participation formed part of the 'Bilaterals II' package of agreements with the EU, signed in June 2004, and was approved in a Swiss referendum on the matter in 2005. However, Swiss nationalists, who oppose closer integration with the EU, recently managed to gather enough signatures to trigger another referendum on Schengen, which is set to take place next year. According to EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Jacques Barrot, this could result in Switzerland's presence in the Schengen area being "interrupted."
Switzerland's participation in the Schengen area could also pose problems for neighbouring Liechtenstein, which is not a member of the EU but which will soon be surrounded by EU and Schengen states. Liechtenstein has no airport of its own and is dependent on its neighbours for vital international transport links.
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