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The Cost of Non-Schengen

Added 3/4/2016 (Administrátor)
Europa.eu - Press release - 4. 3. 2016
Temporary border controls not only hamper the free movement of persons, they also come with significant economic costs. The Commission has estimated that a full re-establishment of border controls within the Schengen area would generate immediate direct costs of between €5 and €18 billion annually (or 0.05%-0.13% of GDP). These costs would be concentrated on certain actors and regions but would inevitably impact the EU economy as a whole. 

For example:

  • Member States such as Poland, the Netherlands or Germany would face more than €500 million of additional costs for the road transport of traded goods;

  • Spain or the Czech Republic would see their businesses paying more than €200 million in additional costs;

  • Border controls would cost the 1.7 million cross-border workers between €1.3 and €5.2 billion in terms of time lost;

  • At least 13 million tourist nights could be lost, with a total cost of €1.2 billion;

  • Between €0,6 and €5.8 billion of administrative costs would have to be paid by governments due to the need for increased staff for border controls.

 
First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said: "Schengen is one of the most cherished achievements of European integration, and the costs of losing it would be huge. Our aim is to lift all internal border controls as quickly as possible, and by December 2016 at the latest. For this purpose, we need a coordinated European approach to temporary border controls within the framework of the Schengen rules instead of the current patchwork of unilateral decisions. In the meantime, we must fully implement the measures set out in our roadmap in order to strengthen control of our external border and improve the functioning of our asylum system. We must also continue to work with Turkey to fully implement the Joint Action Plan and substantially reduce the flow of arrivals."

Full text here