Schengen Information System

The Schengen Information System (SIS) is a governmental database maintained by the European Commission. The SIS is used by 32 European countries to find information about individuals and entities for the purposes of national security, border control and law enforcement since 2001. A second technical version of this system, SIS II, went live on 9 April 2013. An upgraded Schengen Information System entered into operation on 7 March 2023. Information in SIS is shared among the institutions of countries participating in the Schengen Agreement Application Convention (SAAC). The five original participating countries were France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Twenty-two additional countries joined the system since its creation: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Greece, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Liechtenstein and Croatia. Among the current participants, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland are members of the European Free Trade Association but not of the European Union. Although Ireland and the United Kingdom operate a Common Travel Area and had not signed the Schengen Agreement Application Convention while the UK was still an EU member, they had the right to take part in Schengen co-operation under the terms of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which introduced the provisions of Schengen acquis into European Union law. Schengen acquis allowed the United Kingdom and Ireland to take part in all or part of the Schengen convention arrangements. The UK ceased to have access at the end of a transition period on 31 December 2020; Ireland was connected to SIS II on 15 March 2021. Since 1 August 2018, Bulgaria and Romania have full access to SIS; before that they had access to SIS only for law enforcement purposes. Cyprus joined SIS on 25 July 2023. Ireland joined the law enforcement aspect on 1 January 2021 and has "full operational capacity" since March 2021.

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La mécanique sociale des mobilités. Enquête sur les inégalités de déplacements quotidiens dans trois espaces frontaliers européens.

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At the crossroads of transportation engineering and urban sociology, the dissertation deciphers the interactions between daily mobility and social inequalities, what I call the "social mechanics of mobility". To do so, I draw on a twofold survey, both quan ...

EPFL2023

Schengen Area

The Schengen Area (ˈʃɛŋən , ˈʃæŋən) is an area comprising European countries that have officially abolished many passport and many other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice policy of the European Union (EU), it mostly functions as a single jurisdiction under a common visa policy for international travel purposes. The area is named after the 1985 Schengen Agreement and the 1990 Schengen Convention, both signed in Schengen, Luxembourg.

Border control

Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it also encompasses controls imposed on internal borders within a single state. Border control measures serve a variety of purposes, ranging from enforcing customs, sanitary and phytosanitary, or biosecurity regulations to restricting migration.

Travel document

A travel document is an identity document issued by a government or international entity pursuant to international agreements to enable individuals to clear border control measures. Travel documents usually assure other governments that the bearer may return to the issuing country, and are often issued in booklet form to allow other governments to place visas as well as entry and exit stamps into them. The most common travel document is a passport, which usually gives the bearer more privileges like visa-free access to certain countries.

Explores the EU's external migration policies, Schengen Zone, and Switzerland's freedom of movement agreement with the EU.