Czechs Ready to Join Schengen

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000881 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, CA/FO E.O. 12958: TAGS: PGOV PREL CVIS EZ SUBJECT: Czechs Ready to Join Schengen ¶1. (U) Summary: The Czech Republic is anxious and ready to implement the Schengen Agreement on January 1, 2008. This is a high priority political issue that unites all political parties, as evidenced by the unanimous passage of the "Schengen Package" in Parliament May 2007 that brought domestic legislation into compliance with all Schengen regulations. For Czechs, Schengen is one of the most tangible advantages of joining the EU, and without it, Czechs believe new EU member states are treated as second class citizens. A recent poll found that 78% of Czechs regard the country's Schengen entry as an important gain in their EU membership. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek believes that Schengen entry is as momentous to Czech citizens as when Communism ended, saying "entering the Schengen area is an important step towards full membership in the EU." The Czech Republic has successfully completed all interim Schengen evaluations and will face the final hurdle - an evaluation of its operation of the Schengen Information System (SIS) - in September 2007. The GOCR is confident it will pass the SIS test and has unrolled plans for a US$1 million public education campaign. However, despite intense internal preparatory efforts, external issues over which the GOCR has little control - resistance from Austria and mixed EU evaluations of neighboring Schengen-candidate countries - may threaten its accession to Schengen. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Czech Ministry of Interior International Relations Department Director Blanka Rybonova informed emboffs July 26 about preparations for the Czech Republic to join Schengen on January 1, 2008. The Schengen Agreement, which the Czech Republic signed as part of its accession to the EU on May 1, 2004, abolishes national borders and standardizes border control between participating countries. Before a country can implement the Schengen Agreement, it must meet four criteria: (1) security of external ground borders and maritime ports; (2) standardization in issuance and regulations of visas; (3) operation and maintenance of the Schengen Information System (SIS), a database of personal information used for law enforcement purposes; (4) security of their airports. Currently, the Czech Republic is scheduled to lift ground border checks on December 31, 2007 and airport checks on March 29, 2008. ¶3. (SBU) The Czech Republic has been negotiating with its neighbors on how to handle its ground borders. Because the Czech Republic is completely surrounded by other EU-member states (Poland, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany),the EU never formally evaluated Czech border security (criteria 1). However, since its neighbors Poland and Slovakia have external borders, the EU holds Czech accession to the Schengen area dependent on Poland and Slovakia's ability to secure their borders. Consequently, the Czechs have been coordinating closely with their neighbors. Austria presents another potential monkey wrench for Czech Schengen hopes. Rybonova said that Austria, driven by domestic political concerns, is nervous about an enlarged Schengen, and asked all of its neighbors preparing to join Schengen (Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovakia) to lift their Austrian border control in stages. All four countries rejected this idea. Instead, the Czech Republic is working on a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding outlining specific measures the Czech Republic will take to enhance security in the Austrian border area. ¶4. (SBU) During its initial Schengen evaluation in 2006, the Czech Republic received poor marks for security problems at the Brno airport. However, these problems have been fixed and the Czechs successfully passed the July 2007 Schengen evaluation. The Czechs face one final test: in September 2007 they will be evaluated on their implementation of the SIS law enforcement database. Rybonova believes the Czech Republic will pass this test as the GOCR has everything it needs to manage this system. In anticipation of a successful entry into the Schengen area, the GOCR has announced it will spend CZK 25 million (over US $1 million) to educate people about the consequences of Czech Schengen entry. ¶5. (SBU) As the clock ticks towards January 1, 2008, the Czech Republic faces three vulnerabilities that may block its Schengen accession. First, a systematic vulnerability in SIS could delay Czech entry. In July, after the SIS's software was updated to handle the upcoming expansion, press reported that nine current Schengen countries (Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands) failed the software's operational test. These states are to be retested before the end of 2007 to ensure the system's functionality. However, if the updated SIS cannot function throughout all member states, Czech entry would be delayed until this software problem is solved. Second, Austria may try and persuade other EU states that the new member states are not adequately prepared for Schengen. Third, if Slovakia and Poland fail their Schengen evaluation, Czech entry into Schengen would be delayed until after it institutes an external border with these countries. Accordingly to Rybonova, this last scenario is not likely since Poland and Slovakia have made significant strides to fulfill the Schengen evaluation criteria. PRAGUE 00000881 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The Czechs believe that their entrance into the Schengen area will bring them one step closer to being full-fledged members of the EU. As such, their criticism of the U.S. visa waiver policy and "double standards" for old and new EU member states may intensify; the Czechs may in turn increase pressure within the EU to invoke the EU solidarity clause and visa reciprocity clause to pressure the US into introducing a single visa policy for all EU Schengen states. That said, we expect that the successful passage of the 9/11 legislation now in Congress, which would modify the visa waiver policy in a manner that favors the Czech Republic, will make the Czechs less likely to press for a tougher EU stance. However, while Czech entry into the Schengen would signify completion of basic border security, the Czechs still have not signed the EU Prum Convention, a new agreement to extend cross-border cooperation for combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration. The EU has yet to decide whether to expand the Prum Convention to the new EU member states.