EU free movement demands effective external borders - Ludford

5.15.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 15th Nov 2007

The European Parliament has voted to approve the extension of the Schengen area of passport-free travel to 9 of the new member states (eastern Europe plus Malta).

London Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford said:

"This is undoubtedly a historic achievement, finally ending the Cold War legacy of a Europe divided between East and West."

"However it is important that the work on making external border controls more effective continues. It is unacceptable that MEPs have been denied the full evaluation reports."

"Three new projects will contribute to 'smarter' borders: the improved Schengen Information System which will better enable police to swap information on people to be kept out; the Visa Information System for which I was the responsible MEP, which makes visa-issuing more secure against fraud and illegal immigration, and a strengthened Frontex, the external borders agency."

"All this work is important in convincing the UK, which for now opts out of the Schengen area and still requires passport checks, that Europe's outer borders are secure."

"I know the only way the UK could be persuaded to consider joining the Schengen zone is when it feels confident in the EU's external borders, and I will work to try and make that happen."

Note to Editors:

The countries concerned are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta.