France and Germany want the right to suspend the EU's Schengen free movement zone for up to four years over terror fears, leaked papers reveal today.

A confidential diplomatic paper reveals that the countries are demanding powers to halt passport-free travel within the European Union area.

Fears over terrorism and migration have prompted the demand, which would apply in terms of 'exceptional circumstances'.

The document, revealed by The Times, is likely to trigger a major row within the EU and comes just days after Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for an extension to the borderless zone.

France and Germany want the right to suspend the EU's Schengen free movement zone for up to four years over terror fears, leaked papers reveal today (pictured is a border fence put up between Hungary and Serbia during a crackdown on free movement in 2015)

Schengen covers most EU countries on mainland Europe. It allows people to move freely across borders without showing passports or having their goods checked.

It does not apply to the UK and Ireland, which is why EU travellers must show passports at British ports.

The new call for a suspension to Schengen follows the imposition of emergency border controls introduced during the European migration crisis and after terrorist attacks.

But the temporary measures - which are only allowed to stay in pace for six months at a time - are due to be lifted within weeks by the European Commission.

Schengen covers most EU countries on mainland Europe. It allows people to move freely across borders of countries marked in blue without showing passports or having their goods checked. Countries shown in yellow are obliged to join Schengen under their EU entry deals

Austria, Denmark and Norway support the border check proposals which would employ frontier controls for years rather than months, according to the paper.

Under the new proposal, rules on free movement would be suspended for longer - up to two years.

It warns: 'The grounds for such controls for periods exceeding six months would continue to involve the particular seriousness of the threat to internal security and the long-term nature of that threat.'

During a television debate yesterday, Mr Juncker insisted that the EU's passport-free travel zone was 'not an invitation to terrorists', though he admitted that terrorist cells had benefited from lax controls.

'It's true that occasionally terrorists do benefit from it but the prime beneficiaries are European citizens,' he said.

'We're being told you're opening the borders to terrorists. No, we are opening the borders for tourists.'

The leak is likely to trigger a major row within the EU and comes just days after Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (pictured on Wednesday in Strasbourg) called for an extension to the borderless zone

Schengen Zone 'has helped terrorists' by allowing them to move freely between countries, admits Juncker

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker addresses the European Parliament

The EU’s open borders have helped terrorists launch attacks on the continent, Jean-Claude Juncker confessed yesterday.

In a frank admission, the European Commission president said the Schengen zone had allowed extremists to move freely between countries.

But Mr Juncker said he still wanted to push ahead with plans to extend the border-free travel area to include Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia.

Terrorists involved in both the Paris and Berlin attacks were able to escape across borders into other countries thanks to the removal of checkpoints.

During an online question and answer session, Mr Juncker insisted the benefits of removing borders outweighed the dangers.

‘Border controls have been removed from some borders, but that is not an invitation to terrorists to travel freely through Europe,’ he said. ‘It’s true that occasionally terrorists do benefit from it but the prime beneficiaries are European citizens.’

The former prime minister of Luxembourg, who set out his blueprint for a European super-state on Wednesday, added: ‘I lived through a time where there were borders everywhere in Europe.

‘[Luxembourg is] a very nice country but it’s also a very small country and I had to cross borders regularly and this was a very costly and time-consuming thing.

‘Now we’ve removed those border controls and we’re being told you’re opening the borders to terrorists. No, we are opening the borders for tourists. ’