Joint Statement

The Business Travel Sector Celebrates 40 Years of the Schengen Agreement

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Schengen Agreement, which led to the creation of the borderless Schengen Area, allowing citizens to travel across 29 European countries without any border controls.

The Schengen Area has been one of greatest achievements of the European Union in its history, facilitating a more united and connected Europe. For business travellers, the Schengen Area has been a major success story, cutting red tape for businesses and creating a free movement area that covers more than 450 million people. It has brought people together, fostering exchange of ideas and economic growth.

Four decades on from its inception, the business travel sector celebrates its success and calls for the Schengen Area to be better enforced, through a wider digitalisation of travel procedures and better protection of travellers’ rights, making travel even smoother and more secure. In addition, to fully realise the internal dimension of Schengen, it is essential to focus not only on borderless travel in principle but also on enabling seamless, fast, and reliable connections in practice. This includes the need to physically connect Member States through a comprehensive high-speed rail network, ensuring that freedom of movement is supported by sustainable and accessible transport infrastructure.