European Commission
Malmström

Last week a group of experts from the European Commission visited Denmark to get a closer look at the implementation of the measures aimed at reinforcing the internal border controls. The experts met with Danish authorities in Copenhagen and visited the Danish-German and Danish-Swedish borders. Unfortunately the mission did not give us the clarifications we were hoping for. I am still concerned about the situation. Among the concerns expressed by the experts, the risk assessment required to justify the controls was not sufficient and there were no clear instructions to border control officers for how to carry out controls. There also does not seem to be a structured reporting mechanism about the numbers of controls and the results of the intensified border checks.

This is worrying. We have now sent yet another letter to the Danish authorities to get further clarifications. We will also reinforce our dialogue with the Danish authorities and put in place a strict monitoring system based on regular information from the Danish authorities. Moreover, we are not excluding further visits if necessary. I hope that we will have a continued good dialogue with Denmark and that we together with them can make sure that the EU rules are being fully respected. This is the task of the Commission, and we will not hesitate to use all tools at our disposal to guarantee that EU legislation is being fully respected – not least the free movement of goods, services and persons, which is one of the finest achievements of EU cooperation.