Schengen area to grow, but Cyprus still out

The Schengen Area, where citizens and tourists travel without passports is set to expand on December 21 to include new member states, but not Cyprus, which is expected to join in 2009.

The Schengen zone, named for the wine-making town in Luxembourg where the agreement was signed in 1985, currently allows unhindered travel between 13 western EU countries plus the non-EU states of Norway and Iceland. The U.K. and Ireland have opted out of the program.

The zone makes it easier for EU citizens to travel and spend freely. This month’s expansion, the largest since Schengen was conceived, will allow free road, rail and sea travel between older EU nations and the ex-communist members — Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia — plus Malta, all of which joined in 2004. Unfettered air travel begins at the end of March.

Cyprus is working to join Schengen in 2009 along with non-EU member Switzerland. Romania and Bulgaria may be accepted in 2011.

Schengen members are open to each other, but not to the outside world. So, the EU has erected a barrier of barbed wire, cameras and motion detectors along its eastern frontiers at a cost of EUR 1,42 bln. The move has raised protests among residents along both sides of the border, two decades after the collapse of Communism heralded an end to a divided Europe.

The Schengen system is designed to foil smugglers and human traffickers dealing in prostitution and forced labour. To meet the standards, the EU’s eastern members had to beef up security along the 6,398-km land and sea frontier. Brussels contributed EUR 1.07 bln, while individual governments added the remaining EUR 356 mln.

Visitors to the UK would have to leave after three months instead of the current six under new visa proposals being considered by the government in London. Families might also have to pay a financial deposit to ensure relatives from outside the EU whose visit they were sponsoring left the UK on time.

The government said the bond, put out to consultation, was “not for everyone, but where we think there’s a risk”. But immigration groups said it would be “unfair” on poorer families.

The proposals are aimed at those who deliberately overstay or work illegally in the UK. The government has not revealed how much families would be asked to pay to sponsor an overseas visitor, but press reports suggest it could be a GBP 1,000 bond.

In addition to shortening standard tourist visas, the government might also introduce special occasion visas for events such as the London Olympics in 2012.