This project was made possible by co-financing from the Province of Zeeland and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
The core of the European Union is its internal market, built on the open borders and the free movement of people: the area of Schengen. In 2025, Schengen has existed for 40 years. “In an area where persons may move freely, the reintroduction of border control at internal borders should remain an exception. Border control should not be carried out or formalities imposed solely because such a border is crossed”, recalls recital 21 of the Schengen Borders Code. Yet, rarely has the list of notified border controls been so long.
Many of the cross-border regions at the internal borders of the EU are today faced with the reintroduction of border controls. In these areas, the (negative) impacts of such controls may be especially visible due to the high degree of integration, intensive cross-border cooperation, and the daily movement of commuters across the border. On 24 May 2024, the Council of the European Union gave its final approval to the new Schengen Borders Code, with many amendments particularly interesting for cross-border regions. Next to amendments regarding external and internal border controls, interestingly, the Code explicitly talks about “cross-border” regions (different from the term border region). By 11 January 2025, the Member States with common internal borders are asked to determine the areas of their territory considered as cross-border regions, considering the strong social and economic ties between them, and notify the Commission. Member States are also required to assess the impact of border controls to these cross-border regions.
This year’s joint Cross-Border Impact Assessment by ITEM and the Transfrontier Euro-Institut Network (TEIN) combines both ex-post and ex-ante analysis. It examines several border regions across Europe, including case studies of Benelux–Germany, Germany–France, Germany–Switzerland, France–Spain, Hungary–Austria, and Luxembourg–Germany. The key questions guiding this research are twofold. First, what are the current effects of the reintroduction of internal border controls on (cross-)border regions, including differences between highly integrated Euroregions and other border areas? This includes examining how controls affect cross-border commuting for work, study, and leisure; whether travel times and incentives to work across the border have changed; the impact on border-area businesses and daily services; and how cooperation, coordination, and trust between neighbouring authorities and institutions are influenced in practice. Second, what potential impacts might arise from the amended Schengen Borders Code, including the new requirement to carry out cross-border impact assessments? The study is particularly relevant as a bottom-up academic exercise at a time when, for the first time, Member States themselves are legally required to assess the likely effects of internal border controls on cross-border regions. It is also notable that the term “cross-border region” now appears for the first time in EU legislation. A core objective of the research is to explore whether and how Member States are assessing these impacts, and whether this analysis is already reflected in the notifications submitted to the Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council. Our research is also meant to assist the Member States and provide first results in the framework of a proper ex-ante assessment.
