OREANDA-NEWS. France intends to initiate a reform of the Schengen zone during its presidency of the EU Council (to begin on 1 January 2022 and last for six months). President Emmanuel Macron announced this.

"To summarise in one phrase the aim of our EU presidency is to make Europe more sovereign. To move Europe from cooperation within our borders to a Europe that has power in the world, that is fully independent and in charge of its own destiny,"- he said.

According to him, Paris is initiating reform of the Schengen zone based on two priorities. "Firstly, there is the political governance of Schengen, which, as in the case of the euro zone, will be governed by a special organisation that will regularly convene relevant ministers,"- he explained.

Macron also stressed that EU authorities must strengthen controls at external borders and ensure their protection, which will be one of the key conditions for ensuring free movement within the European Union. "Secondly, it is to set up an emergency support mechanism in case of a crisis at the border. Countries whose borders are on the outer edge of the EU should count on the full support of the border agency Frontex... as well as police and gendarmerie reinforcements from other commonwealth countries,"- the head of state explained.

Macron announced the need to reform the Schengen zone last autumn. "Terrorism - from Paris to Brussels, to Berlin, Vienna, Barcelona, Copenhagen - is a European reality to which we must respond. We need a common, coordinated and rapid response,"- he said at the time. The French president said this response should include developing common databases, sharing information between EU countries and strengthening domestic security.

A year and a half before, Macron had also talked about reforming the Schengen zone, suggesting that this would require excluding states that do not participate in the distribution of migrants arriving in Europe from the EU.

In March 2020, Macron warned of the risk of the Schengen zone collapsing due to a coronavirus pandemic. "The survival of the European project is at stake. The risk we face is the death of Schengen,"- he declared. The president stressed that the pandemic could destroy the foundations of the European Union if member states do not show solidarity in dealing with the crisis.

The Schengen zone is an area comprising 26 European states which have joined the European Union's Schengen acquis and abolished border controls between them. Four of these countries (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) are not part of the EU.