4 ms·

> the Schengen countries (This is almost the whole EU minus the UK). FTR Ireland is not in Schengen either. But it shares a land border with UK, and one countr

by rmc 8y ago

> the Schengen countries (This is almost the whole EU minus the UK). FTR Ireland is not in Schengen either. But it shares a land border with UK, and one country joining Schengen and the other not would be a silly idea.

Y_Y 8y ago
The UK and Ireland are their own mini-Schengen called the "Common Travel Area". Irish and British people don't need to show ID to travel between the two countries, but they do need to show ID to prove they are Irish or British and hance entitled to travel without ID [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area#Ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area#Ireland
- garmaine 8y ago
  The point is only one of them joining the Schengen would require building a wall between northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland. I’m sure hat would go over very well... /s
CaptainZapp 8y ago
There was a rather ironic constellation, when Switzerland joined the Schengen area in 2008, but Liechtenstein joined 6 month later. (There is no border or customes control between Switzerland and Liechtenstein). In theory it would have ment to put up full border checks between the two countries, since Liechtenstein would not have been part of the area and Schengen checks are pretty thorough. Cooler heads prevaled. Especially since Liechtenstein doesn't have an international airport and is completely enclosed by Schengen countries. So the status quo remained. One another interesting sidenote. Before 2008, when there were long queues at Zurich airport they sometimes just opened the floodgates and let people in un-checked. Mind you this being Switzerland I'm pretty sure that it was heavily observed and this didn't happen recklessly. However, since Schengen this is a no-go and each and every passenger entering or leaving the Schengen area must be checked (alas, it's probably the most efficient passport control I've ever experienced, except, possibly, Singapore).

by rmc 8y ago

Y_Y 8y ago

The UK and Ireland are their own mini-Schengen called the "Common Travel Area". Irish and British people don't need to show ID to travel between the two countries, but they do need to show ID to prove they are Irish or British and hance entitled to travel without ID [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area#Ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Travel_Area#Ireland

garmaine 8y ago
The point is only one of them joining the Schengen would require building a wall between northern Ireland and the rest of Ireland. I’m sure hat would go over very well... /s

CaptainZapp 8y ago

There was a rather ironic constellation, when Switzerland joined the Schengen area in 2008, but Liechtenstein joined 6 month later. (There is no border or customes control between Switzerland and Liechtenstein). In theory it would have ment to put up full border checks between the two countries, since Liechtenstein would not have been part of the area and Schengen checks are pretty thorough. Cooler heads prevaled. Especially since Liechtenstein doesn't have an international airport and is completely enclosed by Schengen countries. So the status quo remained. One another interesting sidenote. Before 2008, when there were long queues at Zurich airport they sometimes just opened the floodgates and let people in un-checked. Mind you this being Switzerland I'm pretty sure that it was heavily observed and this didn't happen recklessly. However, since Schengen this is a no-go and each and every passenger entering or leaving the Schengen area must be checked (alas, it's probably the most efficient passport control I've ever experienced, except, possibly, Singapore).