EU’s border controls could be prolonged in terror crisis

Temporary border controls inside the European Union’s free travel zone could be extended for up to three years during a crisis, giving the bloc more leeway to control migration.

The proposal by the European Commission came as border controls in Germany, Austria, Denmark and Norway were about to expire.

They were imposed in response to a surge of refugees and migrants in November 2015 that tested EU rules on passport-free travel.

Those countries must end the frontier checks by November this year under a two-year-limit set by the bloc in the Schengen area, which is named after a town in Luxembourg and aspires to be a symbol of free movement within the EU.

The commission did not refer to the four countries by name, but if EU governments agree to the plan, it would allow them to keep the controls in place for another year if they can justify them.

EU home affairs commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said the threat of migrants arriving through Greece and the western Balkans was no longer a valid reason for carrying out frontier checks.

But it would still be possible for all member states to introduce internal border controls if there were “exceptional” threats to their internal security.

Germany has long argued that it needs the controls to combat the threat of Islamic militancy in Europe.

The EU has taken in more than 1.7 million people from the Middle East and Africa since 2014. But after a mass influx in 2015, numbers have gone down steadily after a deal last year that closed the route from Turkey to Greece.

The EU has also stepped up support for Libya to curb arrivals in Italy. Sweden has lifted its border checks but has stepped up internal controls. Norway is part of Schengen but not the EU.