France Seeks To Reform Schengen Area During EU Presidency - Macron

France Seeks to Reform Schengen Area During EU Presidency - Macron

Reforming the free-movement Schengen Zone of Europe to make borders more secure will be one France's priorities during its presidency of the European Union, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2022) Reforming the free-movement Schengen Zone of Europe to make borders more secure will be one France's priorities during its presidency of the European Union, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday.

"We have to make sure that we have control over our own borders and our own area. We have made a great deal of progress as we beefed up Frontex (EU border service), and the French presidency will try to reform the Schengen area, which is at the base of its original promise of an area of free movement," Macron said during his opening speech at a European Parliament plenary session devoted to the presentation of France's EU Presidency program.

The French president advocated reforms of the Schengen area last year, saying that the free movement zone has become fragmented due to terrorist threats, uncontrollable migration and public health risks. In December, he reiterated his call for a new EU border mechanism in the wake of a migrant crisis on the EU-Belarus border.