STA, 3 February 2022 - Slovenia strongly supports France's idea on the creation of a Schengen Council to manage the passport-free zone of the EU, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said today. He said the initiative enjoyed quite a lot of support but that it would probably take some time before decisions on the functioning of the new body would be made.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been striving for a more political management of the Schengenzone following the example of the Eurozone. France proposes the setting up of the Schengen Council, which would inspect the situation in the Schengen zone a few times a year and in case of a crisis.
Slovenia supports this, Hojs said, noting that it had become evident in the cases of Afghanistan and Belarus how quick coordination of political decisions could enable efficient action at the operative level.
Hojs told reporters in Brussels via video call that countries mostly supported the setting up of such a council but that it would probably take some time before decisions are made on how the council would make decisions.
The French presidency is to set up the council on the sidelines of a meeting of EU interior ministers in March.
Controlling the external borders is one of the priorities of France, which believes this is necessary before the Schengen zone could be expanded to Croatia.
An important step in this process will also be the adoption of the migration pact.
Hojs said Slovenia did not want such conditions to be made, because it was not clear what the fate of the migration pact would be, while it would like Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen zone.
EU interior ministers discussed in Lille today fresh ideas for speeding up the overhaul of the Schengen zone and ensure a breakthrough with the adopting of the migration package in the face of developments related to Afghanistan and Belarus.
