



The possible redrawing of the Schengen Treaty zone will be discussed at an emergency European Union meeting on Friday, with Greece being in danger of being placed outside the Schengen borders, according to a Daily Mail report.

Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are set to re-draw the boundaries to just include the original members, says the report. The five countries also demand strict checks at passport control to systematically compare the names of all arrivals against those on counter-terrorism databases – potentially leading to much longer queues, says Daily Mail.

A EUobserver report says that France is asking firstly for a quick adoption of PNR (Passenger Name Record), in the EU airlines passengers data base. It wants PNR to be extended to internal EU flights, with data stored for one year. This is in light of the recent bloody Islamic State attacks in Paris.

“It is of crucial importance to finalize work on a EU PNR before the end of this year,” migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said at a press conference Wednesday.

However, the commissioner said that the Schengen Treaty is not subject to negotiation. “Schengen is the greatest achievement of European integration,” Avramopoulos said. “If we put Schengen under question, it will mark a backtracking on EU integration.”

“The Schengen Borders Code already provides all the tools for effective checks,” Avramopoulos said. “Member states must make full use of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in order to exchange information,” he added.

The European Commission also announced on Wednesday that new measures on arms controls will be implemented, following France’s demands on the issue.

Several EU member states blame the Schengen Zone for the uncontrolled inflow of refugees throughout the continent. According to Daily Mail, EU heads of state discuss the redrawing of the Schengen Zone behind closed doors.

An EU diplomat told the Daily Mail: “We all recognize that Schengen is in trouble and all parties are trying to find a way to ease the burden created by the migrant crisis. We have not agreed on a solution yet, but we are talking to each other and discussing different options ahead of Friday’s meeting.”

European Council President Donald Tusk said Europe is in a “race against time” to stop the impending collapse of Schengen as Sweden became the latest country to slam shut its borders.

Sweden has been one of the most hospitable countries to migrants with the highest number per capita in any of Europe. At the same time, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is raising a fence across its border with Greece.

“Let there be no doubt, the future of Schengen is at stake and time is running out,” Tusk said. “The clock is ticking, we are under pressure, we need to act fast.”

The European Council President also stressed the importance of reinforcing control in the external borders of Europe. “Without effective border control, the Schengen rules will not survive. We must hurry, but without panic,” Tusk said.



