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The Schengen Agreement () led to the creation of Europe's borderless Schengen Area. The treaty was signed on 14 June 1985 by five of the ten member states of the then European Economic Community near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg but was only partially implemented until 1995. It proposed the gradual abolition of border checks at the signatories' common borders. Measures proposed included reduced speed vehicle checks which allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping, allowing residents in border areas freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints and the harmonisation of visa policies.〔Respectively Articles 2, 6 and 7 of the (Schengen Agreement ).〕 In 1990 the Agreement was supplemented by the Schengen Convention which proposed the abolition of internal border controls and a common visa policy. The Schengen Area operates very much like a single state for international travel purposes with external border controls for travellers entering and exiting the area, and common visas, but with no internal border controls. It currently consists of 26 European countries covering a population of over 400 million people and an area of 4,312,099 square kilometres (1,664,911 sq mi). Prior to 1999, the Schengen treaties and the rules adopted under them operated independently from the European Union; however, the Amsterdam Treaty incorporated them into European Union law, while providing opt-outs for the only two EU member states which had remained outside the Area: Ireland and the United Kingdom. Schengen is now a core part of EU law and all EU member states without an opt-out which have not already joined the Schengen Area are legally obliged to do so when technical requirements have been met. Several non-EU countries are also included in the area. ==History== The free movement of persons was a core part of the original Treaty of Rome and, from the early days of the European Economic Community, nationals of EEC member states could travel freely from one member state to another on production of their passports or national identity cards.〔Council Directive on administrative practices and procedures concerning settlement, employment and residence in a Member State of the Community of workers and their families from another Member State ((OJ 80, 13 December 1961, p. 1513 ).)〕 However systematic identity controls were still in place at the border between most member states. Disagreement between member states led to an impasse on the abolition of border controls within the Community, but in 1985 five of the then ten member states, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany, signed an agreement on the gradual abolition of common border controls. The agreement was signed on the river-boat ''Princess Marie-Astrid'' on the river Moselle near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, where the territories of France, Germany and Luxembourg meet. Three of the signatories Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands had already abolished common border controls as part of the Benelux Economic Union. The Schengen Agreement was signed independently of the European Union, in part owing to the lack of consensus amongst EU member states over whether or not the EU had the jurisdiction to abolish border controls, and in part because those ready to implement the idea did not wish to wait for others (at this time there was no enhanced co-operation mechanism). The Agreement provided for harmonisation of visa policies, allowing residents in border areas freedom to cross borders away from fixed checkpoints and the replacement of passport checks with visual surveillance of vehicles at reduced speed and vehicle checks that allowed vehicles to cross borders without stopping.〔 In 1990 the Agreement was supplemented by the Schengen Convention which proposed the abolition of internal border controls and a common visa policy. It was this Convention that created the Schengen Area through the complete abolition of border controls between Schengen member states, common rules on visas, and police and judicial cooperation. The Schengen Agreement along with its implementing Convention was implemented in 1995 only for some signatories, but just over two years later during the Amsterdam Intergovernmental Conference, all European Union member states except the United Kingdom and Ireland had signed the Schengen Agreement. It was during those negotiations, which led to the Amsterdam Treaty, that the incorporation of the ''Schengen acquis''〔The complete acquis, including the fundamental Agreement and Convention and some subsequent acts and instruments brought about meanwhile in its legal framework, had been published here: .〕 into the main body of European Union law was agreed along with opt-outs for Ireland and the United Kingdom, which were to remain outside of the Schengen Area. In December 1996 two non-EU member states Norway and Iceland signed an association agreement with the signatories of the Schengen Agreement to become part of the Schengen Area. While this agreement never came into force, both countries did become part of the Schengen Area after concluding similar agreements with the EU. The Schengen Convention itself was not open for signature by non-EU member states.〔Article 140 of the Schengen Convention.〕 In 2009, Switzerland finalised its official entry to the Schengen Area with the acceptance of an association agreement by popular referendum in 2005.〔Allen M. (March 2009). (Switzerland's Schengen entry finally complete ). swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2013-06-14.〕 Now that the Schengen Agreement is part of the ''acquis communautaire'', the Agreement has, for EU members, lost the status of a treaty, which could only be amended according to its terms. Instead, amendments are made according to the legislative procedure of the EU under EU treaties.〔At first the Council of the European Union, later the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union in the codecision procedure, took the place of the Executive Committee that had been created under the agreement; (Council Decision of 22 December 2004 providing for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the Treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure laid down in Article 251 of that Treaty )〕 Ratification by the former agreement signatory states is not required for altering or repealing some or all of the former Schengen acquis.〔Example: By article 39 subsection 1 of the Schengen Borders Code, Articles 2 to 8 of the Schengen Agreement had been repealed – .〕 Legal acts setting out the conditions for entry into the Schengen Area are now made by majority vote in the legislative bodies of the European Union. New EU member states do not sign the Schengen Agreement as such, instead being bound to implement the Schengen rules as part of the pre-existing body of EU law, which every new entrant is required to accept. This led to the result that non-EU Schengen member states have few formally binding options to influence the shaping and evolution of Schengen rules; their options are effectively reduced to agreeing, or withdrawing from the agreement. However, consultations with affected countries are conducted prior to the adoption of particular new legislation. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Schengen Agreement」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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