PalQ

I wonder if anyone has been to the tiny town of Schengen, in Luxembourg on the Mosel River and right at the confluence of the German, French and Luxembourgish (sp?) borders.
Schengen if of course famous for being the venue (i presume) of the signing of the Schengen Accords, which opened borders amongst participating members of the EU (and starting next year Switzerland, though not a EU member is signing on i heard).
Anyway what kind of town is it - anything special - probably nice riverfront? Is there some kind of monument there to the accords?
Thanks - just some weird thought i had and would like to know about it.

alanRow

Schengen ISN'T an agreement between EU countries, unless the likes of Norway & Iceland have joined the EU recently.

PalQ

Please explain! I really thought it was only EU and soon to be Switzerland - Norway has open borders with the EU? I'm not doubting you - but the Schengen Accord is, if not an EU accord, what kind - could the US (heaven forbid) join?

norween

The Schengen agreement is between EUROPEAN states : Europe (the continent) and European Union are 2 different things

ira

Hi PAL,

See
http://www.eurovisa.info/SchengenCountries.htm

norween

Or, for a very complete explanation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_treaty

alanRow

Note the UK, Ireland & the 10 recent entrants to the EU AREN'T in Schengen.

Also note that whilst the UK & Ireland are in a common travel zone (ie you don't have to show passports travelling between them) you do have to have separate UK & Ireland visas if your need them.

PalQ

Thanks for the clarification all.

"The 1985 Schengen Agreement is an agreement among European states which allows for common immigration policies (including the Schengen visa) and a border system. A total of 26 countries – including all European Union states except the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, but including non-EU members Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland – have signed the agreement and 15 have implemented it so far. Border posts and checks have been removed between Schengen countries and a common 'Schengen visa' allows access to the area. However, the agreement does not cover residency or work permits for non-EU nationals."
I note that the UK and Eire are the only EU states not to enter the accord? What gives with that - fear of immigrants even though stats i think show that other EU countries like France have more? Xenophobia?

PalQ

Or by the way, anyone been to Schengen?

Dukey

If going to Schengen has this sort of effect on folks I think I'll pass!

flanneruk

PalQ's opening statement is 100% correct.

The Schengen agreement was indeed only between a group of EU members.

The agreement was subsequently joined by Norway and Iceland (not their likes: just them), and might be joined by Switzerland (presumably with Lichtenstein following in tow willy-nilly) if it organises its systems and rules to conform with hte other members.

But PalQ's opening statement wasn't about the current membeship.

flanneruk

Incidentally, Ireland's not in Schengen because the UK's not, and the Republic would rather attend a Prod service (or go teetotal) than allow a policed border between North and South.

Britain's not because in we want to be in control of our borders. Otherwise we'd have to give non-EU ciitizens the stingy visit period the Continental xenophobes offer. We'd undoubtedly have been pressured to tear up the Treaty of Rome freedom of movemebnt rights that we offered the new EU countries the day they joined, while the insular mob on the other side of the Channel were busy building walls to keep the Poles out.

We'd be getting nagged now to be as mean with the working holiday visas we offer to young people from about 40% of the planet as the introspective French and Germans are.

And as for our Highly Skilled Migrant Programme - which basically gives no-strings work permits to anyone from anywhere if they've got a degree and a few years' decent career development - no doubt our diplomats would be getting hourly GBH of the earhole on how non-communautaire this is.

As it is, we can just go on as we are, providing Europe's poor, and the rest of the world's brightest, with the jobs the Schengen sclerotics are so skilled at destroying.

indytravel

I finally found a map of the first 15 Schengen countries:

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden

Seems like Luxembourg has a lock on tri-country borders for the 15:

Lux, France and Belgium
Lux, Germany and Belgium
Lux, France and Germany (where Schengen is located)

There are two more tri-country areas with:

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands
Finland, Sweden and Norway.

I wonder why they didn't pick a town above the Arctic Circle.

Alec

Getting back to the subject matter about the town of Schengen, I have not set foot in it, but saw the town yesterday from the car as we crossed the new motorway bridge over the Moselle (A8) from Germany to Luxembourg, which ironically proves the point about the agreement that made the town famous.

tjenneke

Typical for this forum. 12 posts, and not one gives an answer to the original posting. Shengen is just a little town, nothing special to it. In my opinion, not worth wasting yuour time there. If yopu want to know how it looks, go to http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Eur...hoto385360.htm