Schengen Area faces internal border threats, warns Instituto Coordenadas

The Instituto Coordenadas para la Gobernanza y la Economía Aplicada has called for unreserved support for the Schengen Area, warning that the primary threat to free movement is the progressive erosion of internal borders rather than external ones. A special report titled ‘Schengen no se defiende cerrándolo’ notes that ten of the twenty-nine member states—including Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Sweden—continue to maintain reintroduced internal border controls.

The report highlights that while such controls are permitted under the Schengen Borders Code, they have become a permanent fixture through successive extensions rather than remaining temporary exceptions. This fragmentation carries significant economic risks. Citing European Parliament studies, the institute notes that fragmentation costs between 5,000 and 18,000 million euros annually. A two-year interruption could cost 51,000 million euros, and a Europe without Schengen could result in a 0.14% drop in EU GDP, totaling approximately 230,000 million euros per year.

In contrast, the report asserts that the common external border is functioning effectively. The Entry/Exit System reached full operational capacity in April 2026, recording over 60 million entries and exits of third-country nationals in its first six months and resulting in 32,000 denied entries.