Border controls are not supposed to exist between European Union member states. That principle lies at the heart of the 1985 Schengen Agreement, which guarantees free movement across most of the bloc.
Yet for millions of travellers, routine ID checks have quietly returned — and one German professor is now challenging them in court.
Werner Schroeder, a professor of EU law at the University of Innsbruck, has filed a lawsuit against the German government after federal police forcibly searched his bag on a train travelling from Austria to Germany.
The officers took his wallet and checked his identification despite his refusal, an incident Schroeder says crossed both legal and personal lines.
“What led me to this step is the fact that these border controls are no longer permissible under European law,” Schroeder told EUobserver. According to him, controls introduced in response to the 2015 migration crisis and later justified on security grounds have long outlived their legal basis.
Under the Schengen Border Code, internal border controls may only be introduced temporarily and under exceptional circumstances. While the Covid-19 pandemic allowed for broader restrictions, Schroeder argues that continued checks after that period violate EU law.
He points to a 2022 ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which found prolonged controls between Austria and Slovenia to be illegal, as well as similar findings by Germany’s Bavarian Administrative Court.
“The rulings were simply disregarded by politics,” Schroeder said, accusing national governments of prioritising domestic pressure over European legal obligations.
Schroeder explains that while he had previously refused to show his ID during border checks, police often backed down. The June 2025 incident was different. “They used physical force,” he said, adding that only after such an action could he legally challenge the practice in court.
Germany’s federal government has appealed against his complaint, arguing that his case differs from previous ECJ rulings and that a single check does not prove systematic border controls. Schroeder rejects this, saying the police presence at the border is constant and routine.
The case could take months — or years — especially if national courts refer it back to the ECJ. But its implications stretch far beyond Germany. Several EU countries, including Austria and Denmark, have relied on similar justifications to maintain internal controls.
Schroeder is also critical of the European Commission, the EU’s treaty guardian, for failing to act decisively. While a commissioner recently suggested Germany should end the checks, the commission has so far avoided infringement proceedings against member states.
“If states simply disregard European law and European institutions do nothing, that’s a dangerous signal,” Schroeder warned.
Despite recent reforms to the Schengen Border Code in 2024, he believes the system has been weakened by political reluctance to uphold its principles. “Schengen is not dead,” he said. “But it has been hit hard.”
For Schroeder, the case is about more than one border check — it is about defending one of the EU’s most tangible achievements: the freedom to move without borders.
