Denmark: Border controls (1)
01 January 1991
Denmark: Border controls
artdoc June=1994
Denmark is the only non-Schengen country in the EU with an
immediate border to the Schengen area (the Schengen countries are
9 of the 12 EU states excluding Denmark, the UK and Ireland). The
Danish/German border is seen by the Schengen countries as an
external border. Denmark is a member of the Nordic passport-union
which means that there are no checks at the border on travellers
from the other Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland
and Denmark). The control of citizens from other countries
arriving from Nordic countries has, up till recently, been quite
sporadic.
This situation has led to a demand from Germany that carrier
sanctions of DM2,000-5,000 per person will be levied for people
arriving in Germany via Denmark who do not have legal entry
papers. At a meeting in Bonn on 9 December 1993 the Danish
Minister of Justice, Erling Olsen, persuaded his German
counterpart, Manfred Kanther, to postpone carrier sanctions from
the 17 December deadline to 24 January. The negotiations also
resulted in a slight modification on who would be held
responsible and who would be sanctioned. Bus drivers transporting
passengers on boats, railways transporting train passengers
(including across the land border) will be exempt.
The Danish government has now intensified spot checks at all
ferry ports receiving passengers from the Nordic countries.
Although no accurate figures have yet been published it is
reported that substantial numbers are being affected. The border
controllers have detained people without papers, held them for
up to 10 hours, and sent them back by ship to the port they
entered from. The new policy is to be `evaluated' after three
months.
The administrative director of SAS (Scandinavian Airline
System), P H?jland, has protested about the German imposition of
carrier sanctions and that every passenger has to have legal
entry papers will be very costly for the airline.
The Danish Minister of Justice said that this demand from
Germany had accelerated consideration of Danish membership of the
Schengen Agreement. The Minister is now discussing the
possibility of observer status for Denmark in the Schengen
meetings with the political parties.
Statewatch Vol 4 no 2, March-April 1994