Jacques Delors, Antonio Vitorino and the participants of our 2015 European Steering Committee call on the heads of state and government to both safeguard and strengthen Schengen in the face of international crises (terrorist attacks and the massive influx of asylum-seekers), in a declaration untitled “Schengen is dead? Long live Schengen!” which has already been published in several European media.
After the shocking and coward terrorist attacks in Paris, they underline that “we should be united to fight efficiently against the threat of terrorism, in Europe as well as abroad” and that “our desire for security can be more effectively met within the framework of the Schengen area”, particularly via an improvement of “our ability to ensure the effective monitoring of what are now our common external borders“.
They conclude their declaration by calling “to safeguard and to strengthen Schengen shirking the dangerous temptation to fall back on national borders – a move which would damage the people of Europe without in any way bolstering their security”.
Articles directly inspired by this declaration have already been published in the European press by the following title: Handelsblatt (Germany), Le Monde (France), Le Temps (Switzerland), El Pais (Spain), Le Soir (Belgium), La Repubblica (Italy) et To Vima (Greece).
Jacques Delors served as President to the European Commission and is the founding father of the Jacques Delors Centre.
António Vitorino is Director General of the International Organisation for Migration, he formally worked as an EU Commissioner.