Germany and France set out this week a written demand to restore checks at their borders, which would backtrack on a 27-year policy which has gradually introduced border-free travel in much of continental Europe, a German newspaper reported Friday.
The April 17 letter would be discussed at a meeting next week of European Union interior ministers in Luxembourg, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung said.
In the letter, German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and his French counterpart Claude Gueant seek "the possibility of restoring national border checks for 30 days at a time" if the Schengen zone's outer borders are not adequately policed, the newspaper said, DPA reported.
The move seemed likely to benefit French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is campaigning for re-election, with a first round of voting scheduled Saturday. He has wooed voters on the right by calling for checks to be restored.
The Sueddeutsche quoted German "government sources" as denying that Berlin aimed to help Sarkozy firm up support on the right.
The Schengen free-travel zone, which allows people to drive across most EU borders without stopping to show passports, has been the subject of fierce debate in recent years.
Germany complained bitterly last year when Denmark briefly restored border controls. Both nations have also complained that illegal immigrants are entering Greece, then moving north to seek work.
The Schengen zone comprises 22 of the 27 EU nations as well as four non-EU neighbours.
Germany and France demand right to restore border checks
Germany and France set out this week a written demand to restore checks at their borders, which would backtrack on a 27-year policy which has gradually introduced border-free travel in much of continental Europe, a German newspaper reported Friday.
