Germany must halt extra border checks, says EU Commissioner

EU Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner (Austrian ÖVP) has once again appealed to the German government to halt its additional border checks. The extra checks were introduced in 2024.

EU calls on Germany to stop extra border checks

The EU has renewed its appeal to the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition to halt its additional border controls between Germany and neighbouring EU/EEA countries. Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner told the dpa that falling migration figures and new EU asylum rules meant Germany should begin to phase out the extra checks.

According to the EU border control agency, Frontex, “irregular” migration fell by one-third in the first half of 2026. The asylum rule Brunner refers to is the New Pact on Migration and Asylum (or GEAS in German), which took full effect on June 12.

The GEAS makes it easier for EU member states to deny people the right to apply for asylum. Human Rights Watch says the reform will “take a sledgehammer” to asylum rights “at a time when the world needs Europe more than ever to champion human rights”. 

Former European President Martin Schulz (SPD) supported Brunner’s appeal, saying the additional controls “brought nothing” and broke basic European laws. Schulz added that holidaymakers were likely to face hour-long traffic jams due to extra checks.

Gov’t knew checks were illegal, but continued

The German government first introduced additional border controls in the Schengen Area in September 2024. The controls have been extended three times, most recently to remain in place until September 2026.

When the additional checks were first imposed, the then Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said that the country would continue imposing regular border checks to “protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime”.

The legality of the additional checks has long been questioned. Under EU law, police can turn travellers away at national borders if they cannot provide sufficient identification or are believed to be entering the country illegally.

However, since Germany is in the Schengen Area, border checks must be temporary rather than standard. The EU previously reminded the German government that tightened “necessary and proportionate” border controls must remain an “exceptional” measure to protect against “a serious threat”.

Criticism also came from the German Police Union (GdP), which supported the additional checks, but said that staff shortages made the operation unsustainable.

In May 2026, the Koblenz Administrative Court ruled that extra checks carried out on the Germany-Luxembourg border between March and September 2025 had violated the EU Schengen Agreement. 

The Interior Ministry said it would appeal the decision, and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said that additional checks at the German border would remain in place despite the court ruling them illegal.