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6 Geo. Immigr. L.J. 191 (1992)
The Schengen Agreement and Its Portent for the Freedom of Personal Movement in Europe

handle is hein.journals/geoimlj6 and id is 201 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL SECTION THE SCHENGEN AGREEMENT AND ITS PORTENT FOR THE FREEDOM OF PERSONAL MOVEMENT IN EUROPE ELIZABETH WHITAKER* In these rapidly changing times, conditions long believed to be im- mutable are giving way to reveal a previously unhoped for future. The cold war is over. The Berlin Wall has crumbled, and Germany is re- united. The Palestinian Question is the center of attention. Racial equality is possible in South Africa. Devolution is in the air.1 Hordes of potential immigrants have gained the opportunity to pass beyond the former iron curtain. Despite these rapid changes, the countries of Western Europe continue to move closer together - politically and economically.' The prowess of the European nation-state is waning in Western Eu- rope and being redefined in Eastern Europe. The Kiplinger Washington Letter predicts that regional blocs will control world trade in the '90s, and that the strongest economic growth will occur within these blocs.' As Western European countries intensify their efforts to form * B.A. University of California, Los Angeles, 1987; J.D. Candidate, Georgetown University Law Center, February 1993. 1 thank my husband, Philip Whitaker, for his assistance reviewing my translation of the Schengen Agreement from the French. I also thank the Embassy of Belgium for providing a copy of the Schengen Agreement to me. I. Devolution is evidenced by the disintegration of the former USSR, the civil war in Yugosla- via, the Basque separatist movement in Spain, and many separatist movements in Italy. 2. Political, economic, and military union are evidenced by the approval of the Treaty of Union, amending the Treaty of Rome, in Maastricht by the European Community's Council of Ministers, and the decision of the former European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) countries, including perpetually neutral Switzerland. to attempt to join the EC. 3. 67 KIPLINGER WASH. LETTER, No. 51 (Dec. 12, 1990). The Letter also predicts that as the GATT talks break down, regional trading blocs will gain influence. 67 KIPLINGER WASH. LETTER. No. I (Jan. 4, 1990). The newsletter did not mention the demise of Comecon, eliminating the trading bloc of former Soviet States and satellite countries. This bloc will have to be replaced in some fashion because these countries no longer have a guaranteed market, and as a result are facing difficult economic times.