Source Documents/Free Movement
Free movement of people is a basic pillar of the single area the European Union (EU) has been building since its creation. It is acknowledged as a fundamental right for EU citizens. Yet, implementing this principle by abolishing border controls at internal borders has been more difficult than for those underpinning the free circulation of capital, goods and services. Further steps are being taken to ensure that free movement is applied in a coherent and simplified way throughout the EU Member States, and that checks and controls at the EU's external frontiers are reinforced to a level that will guarantee the Union's internal peace and security.
The free movement of persons between the Member States of the EU is one of the basic aims of the Union. What has become true for capital, goods and services has to be a reality for people too. A right of free movement across the EU was originally envisaged only for the working population, as a single market could not be achieved while limitations to workforce mobility remained in existence. Yet, thanks to the rising social and human dimension of the European area, the right to free movement has since been extended to include all categories of citizens, to dependants, to students and to those who are no longer economically active. Since the integration of the Schengen Acquits into Community law, the notion of "free movement" is used in two senses. First, in the traditional sense of free movement and secondly in the sense of being able to cross the internal borders without undergoing checks.
What does the traditional right to free movement for EU citizens entail?
The right to free movement means that every EU citizen is entitled to travel freely around the Member States of the European Union, and settle anywhere within its territory. No special formalities are required to enter an EU country. This fundamental right extends to members of the EU citizen's family, and applies regardless of their situation or the reason for travel or residence.
Free movement stemming from the abolition of internal border controls
Although free movement was already enshrined in the EEC Treaty, not all the Member States went as far as abolishing internal border checks.
The effective application of free movement was given a boost in 1985 when Germany, France and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) signed an inter-governmental agreement on this issue of gradually abolishing internal border checks, in the small Luxembourg border town of Schengen. The Schengen Agreement was followed in 1990 by the Schengen Convention, which finally came into force in 1995.
Source: European Commission.
