The UK and the Schengen Accord
01 January 1991
The UK and the Schengen Accord
bacdoc January=1992
The UK is one of four European Community members not to have
joined the Schengen Agreement - the others are Ireland and
Denmark, with Greece having applied for observer status
preparatory to joining. The reason for the UK staying outside
Schengen is that it is not prepared to dismantle its borders
controls at ports and airports because of the perceived threats
of terrorism, drug-trafficking, serious crime and immigration.
In practice the UK, and the 12 EC governments in the Trevi group
are closer to Schengen than it appears on the surface because of:
the convergence of issues dealt with by the Trevi and Schengen
groups; new laws and conventions agreed at inter-governmental
level; and police and security agency co-operation.
The UK government does not believe other EC governments will
maintain the `hard outer shell' at the borders of the Community.
A House of Lords Select Committee report expressed the official
UK view when it said "a cordon sanitaire" was needed "to keep out
drug traffickers, terrorists and other criminals, refugees
together with unwanted immigrants". Home Office officials, police
and security services do not trust their counterparts in the
other EC countries to maintain the same standards. As a Scottish
chief constable put it there was the difficulty of explaining
"to a European mind our thinking at this end on what we regard
as a threat". [1]
The Home Affairs Select Committee, in its report on European
police cooperation, said that the UK is an "island nation" that
devotes substantial resources to "checks at its national
frontiers as an essential means of protecting its citizens.." Or
as one commentator put it:
much of the problem with drugs and terrorism is home grown;
it is a disease already grown inside the "soft centre" and
the hardening of the "shell" will do nothing to arrest the
disease within. [2]
UK and Trevi
The UK government intends to maintain border controls for the
foreseeable future but in all other respects it has taken a
leading role in police and internal security cooperation. The UK
has always favoured working through inter-governmental bodies
such as the Trevi group. In evidence to the Home Affairs Select
Committee the Home Office stated that Trevi was "essentially an
informal body", which provides an "informal, spontaneous and
practical" working basis. [3] The accountability of the
government to our national parliament on the work of Trevi (and
other inter-governmental bodies) is derisory. A standard written
question is put down by a government MP and a short written
answer is provided - this method allows for no parliamentary
debate.
The Home Secretary argues that this a sufficient statement of
policy and that all other matters are "operational" and therefore
to be kept secret in the interests of security. Within domestic
policing the line between policy and operations has never been
drawn so narrowly.
The UK thus favour informal and secret mechanisms.
Policing changes
Although the UK has not joined the Schengen Agreement, and on
present evidence is unlikely to do so, it does want to ensure
that maximum co-operation with EC police and security forces
including those within Schengen. The new Police National
Computer, known as PNC2, is to have software which will make it
compatible with the Schengen Information System, and in July this
year the UK Home Office requested a meeting with the Schengen
countries to discuss the exchange of information.
The development of police co-operation through Trevi has given
a major role to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)
which represents all the local police chiefs. It together, with
the Special Branch, security service (MI5) and Home Office
officials attend Trevi meetings.
In January 1976 the European Liaison Section (ELS) of the
Metropolitan Police Special Branch was cr