The disagreement between the Member States led to a deadlock in the abolition of border controls within the Community, but in 1985, five of the ten Member States at the time, namely Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany, signed an agreement on the phasing out of border controls. The agreement was signed on the river boat Princess Marie-Astrid in Moselle, near the city of Schengen, Luxembourg,[3] where the territories of France, Germany and Luxembourg meet. Three of the signatories of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands had already abolished common border controls under the Benelux Economic Union. [Citation required] The Schengen area originally had its legal basis outside the European Economic Community at the time, since it was created by a subgroup of Community Member States with two international agreements: I can inform you that my Government agrees with the content of your letter. CONSIDERING that the protocol incorporating the Schengen acquis within the framework of the European Union, annexed to the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community by the Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on european Union, the treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts (hereafter referred to as the `Schengen Protocol`), cooperation between the Member States of the European Union that signed the Schengen agreements under these agreements and its related provisions will take place within the institutional and legal framework of the European Union and in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community; 1. This agreement does not in any way affect the agreement on the European Economic Area or any other agreement between the European Community and Iceland and/or Norway. The Nordic Passport Union, which allows citizens of the Nordic countries to travel freely within the borders of the Nordic region, was founded in 1954. When the EU Nordic Member States – Denmark, Sweden and Finland – applied for Schengen cooperation, Norway and Iceland also had to reach an agreement with the Schengen countries in order to maintain the Nordic Passport Union. This cooperation agreement was signed on 19 December 1996.

In 1999, the United Kingdom formally requested participation in certain provisions of the Schengen acquis – Title III on police security and judicial cooperation – in 1999, and this request was adopted by the Council of the European Union on 29 May 2000. [102] The UK`s formal participation in previously approved areas of cooperation was brought into effect by a 2004 Council decision that came into force on 1 January 2005. [103] Although the United Kingdom was not part of the Schengen area,[104] it has always used the Schengen information system, a government database used by European countries to store and disseminate information on individuals and goods. This has allowed the UK to exchange information with countries that are part of the Schengen Agreement, often to connect to legal proceedings. [105] In 2020, the United Kingdom has declared that it will withdraw from these agreements at the end of its transition period. Visa liberalisation negotiations between the EU and the Western Balkans (excluding Kosovo) began in the first half of 2008 and ended in 2009 (for Montenegro, Northern Macedonia and Serbia) and 2010 (for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina).