Schengen Convention Points Way to Enhanced EC Criminal Cooperation

Recently Italy joined the Schengen Convention and Spain and Portugal are likely to sign next year. Italy becomes the sixth member to join and soon eight members of the European Community will belong to the Agreement. On June 19, 1990, five members of the European Community EC (Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France, and West Germany) signed the Schengen Convention on the Application of the Schengen Accord. The Convention permits free movement of persons across their borders and on a variety of criminal cooperation measures that will simultaneously enhance the scope of criminal cooperation within the EC and the extent to which governments are monitioring and controlling persons crossing the borders for purposes of national security.