France and the Origins of Schengen: An Interpretation

The chapter focuses on the role of France in the negotiations for the Schengen Agreement in 1985 and the Convention implementing it in 1990. It shows that François Mitterrand, together with Helmut Kohl, was the real architect of the Schengen system, although it was much less influential during the cohabitation period between 1986 and 1988. It also argues that Mitterrand was not only motivated by economic considerations but also by political ones: the need to prevent the entry of unwanted migrants at external borders was as important as the willingness to open internal frontiers within the imminent Single Market. In addition, the choice to act outside the Community framework was not only due to opposition from Great Britain; both the French Presidency and government preferred intergovernmental agreements, because they allowed participants to marginalise Community institutions and exclude unreliable Community member states. Lastly, the chapter demonstrates that, after the collapse of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe, Kohl and his government took the lead in setting the pace and contents of the project, while Mitterrand and his government were forced to adopt a defensive approach. This, incidentally, greatly influenced the implementation of a generous visa policy for nationals of Central and Eastern European countries.