New Eurobarometers reveal that EU citizens and businesses highly appreciate Schengen 

Two new Eurobarometer surveys, published on 8 October, show that people and businesses strongly support the Schengen area. Both citizens and businesses recognise Schengen as one of the EU’s most significant achievements.

The Eurobarometer on citizens’ attitudes

The Eurobarometer survey reveals that 8 in 10 Europeans are aware of the Schengen area, which is an important increase compared to the previous survey in 2018. In general, Europeans express positive attitudes towards the Schengen area. The most frequent purpose for citizens’ travelling to other countries inside the Schengen is for tourism or holidays.

A well-functioning Schengen area is rooted in a solid implementation of the Schengen rules and a high mutual trust between all Member States. Half of Europeans say they are aware of security measures at external borders, with 66% perceiving these measures as sufficient to ensure security while maintaining freedom of movement.

When asked about the personal experience with border checks at the Schengen external borders, 35% reported a smooth and efficient experience against 13% who said that their experience was slow and burdensome.

Over a quarter of respondents had experienced internal border controls. Among those, 28% say that they negatively affect their life as they often travel within the area or live in a border region. A similar proportion (27%) indicate that they reduced their travels or have stopped travelling to countries that have reintroduced these controls.

Reinforcing cooperation and governance within the Schengen Area (63%) is perceived as the main priority for the next years.

The Eurobarometer on businesses’ attitudes

The Eurobarometer survey on businesses’ attitudes also shows that most of EU companies (83%) agree that the Schengen is good for business in their country and 81% consider it as one of the EU’s main achievements.

When asked about the benefits of being in the Schengen area, one quarter of businesses said that it decreased costs due to the absence of internal border controls.

Only about 7% of the companies surveyed were affected by the impact of reintroduced internal border controls since 2015 (excluding the COVID-19 pandemic). 35% of those impacted companies report that their turnover decreased by at least 10% due to internal border controls.

Find out more:

Citizens' attitudes towards the Schengen area

Businesses’ attitudes towards the Schengen area

Schengen, borders and visa