Schengen policy : "The only place where the Democracy works is in the Member States"

The European parliament blocked talks with EU nations on five draft laws Thursday to protest Schengen reform. Parliamentary groups across the political spectrum, with the exception of the EFD Group, are angry at a decision by home affairs ministers last week to change the legal basis of the 26-nation Schengen area in order for States to keep a certain control on their borders.

Some MEPs had threatened to lodge an appeal with the European Court of Justice. In a landmark move the same day, the ministers also agreed to empower countries to temporarily restore frontier checks in the borderless travel zone in case of a surge of illegal migrants. Unlike his colleagues, the Danish member Morten Messerschmidt (EFD Group), a supporter of the return of state sovereignty and a stricter control of immigration, welcomed during his speech in Plenary the decision of the Council of Union Ministers. He explains why.