Warunki członkostwa państw w strefie Schengen

The process of European integration in the 1980s related not only to the expansion of the Community with new states, but also served the purpose of further realization of the free flow of people initiated earlier, which found its reflection in the actions aimed at gradual removal of control on the borders of the member-states. The crowning of those actions was concluding the Schengen Convention, also called the Schengen Agreement or Schengen I on 14 June 1985. The Schengen Convention made – from the point of view of the 1980s – a new quality in the perception of the internal borders of the Community, since it delineated to its signatories a very significant goal, from the viewpoint of the functions of borders, i.e., complete abolishing of the control along the internal borders, and – at the same time – transferring the control onto the external borders, together with strengthening their defence. In the article, the author discusses the legal and political conditions of membership of states in the Schengen Area, including both the member-states of the European Union and those which do not belong to this organization.