EU courts rule against Schengen ban

Immigration databases blacklisting non-European nationals for security or criminal reasons must be in line with EU freedom of movement law, Europe’s courts ruled on Tuesday.

The European court of justice has ruled on a clash between restrictions imposed by national governments on foreign nationals and EU freedoms.

The case involved two Algerians married to Spanish nationals but barred from Spain by an immigration blacklist involving all EU countries except the UK, Ireland and Denmark.

The pair had been included on the ‘Schengen Information System’ (SIS) by Germany as posing a threat to public policy or security.

In one of the cases a man was included on the SIS blacklist because he had a conviction for driving a car without a licence.

The EU courts have judged that governments should establish that an individual poses a real threat before he or she is barred.

“A member state must verify whether the presence of those persons constitutes a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society before refusing them entry into the Schengen Area,” said an ECJ statement.

The European commission - the litigant against Spain - has welcomed a ruling that gives primacy to laws setting out the EU’s fundamental freedoms.

“The commission welcomes this judgment as it strengthens the legal certainty with regards to free movement within the EU, including for the spouses of EU citizens who do not have EU nationality,” said a spokesman.

The SIS allows border posts, police stations and consular agents from the 21 Schengen members – EU countries running borders cooperation – “to access data on specific individuals or on vehicles or objects which have been lost or stolen”.

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