Germany to prolong EU border checks: how travel from France is affected

Germany has announced that it plans to prolong border checks with EU countries including France for a further six months. It claims that the checks have stopped tens of thousands of illegal entrants over the past year. 

The exceptional measure allows German border police to check the identity of travellers passing into the country via land borders with its nine neighbouring Schengen countries, despite these usually being ‘open’ under typical EU rules.

Between September 2024 and December 2025 Germany registered more than 67,000 unauthorised entries through EU land border crossings where checks were in place, turning 46,000 away.

At the same time, asylum applications from new arrivals have also dropped considerably, with 7,649 applying in January 2026 compared to 14,920 in January 2025.

The EU Home Affairs group has confirmed that Germany will prolong the checks until at least September 15, 2026. 

The measures have affected travellers passing into Germany from France since September 2024 and have been extended several times.

For its part, France allows for border authorities to check passengers making land, sea, or air crossings from all its EU neighbours and Switzerland until April 30, 2026. 

It is likely to ask to further extend the checks, first implemented in November 2024 and then extended in May 2025 and November 2025.

‘Open’ border can face temporary checks 

“The Schengen Borders Code (SBC) provides member states with the possibility to temporarily reintroduce border control at all or specific parts of their internal borders in the event of a serious threat to public policy or internal security,” says the EU Home Affairs group. 

“The reintroduction of border control at the internal borders is a measure of last resort, which must be limited to exceptional situations and must respect the principles of necessity and proportionality,” it adds. 

Checks can only be demanded for a maximum period of six months before the country needs to reapply for permission to conduct them.

Realistically, however, many countries across the area now have checks with at least some of their Schengen neighbours. 

Alongside Germany and France, countries including Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Poland currently have such measures in place.

A full list is available on the EU Home Affairs website.

What must travellers do

Travellers passing through the impacted land borders may therefore be stopped by border authorities and asked to prove they have the right to travel within the Schengen area.

Alongside targeted checks on certain travellers, random spot checks will be carried out at all border crossings.

Right to travel into Germany can be shown via:

• A valid EU Passport or official ID card from an EU member state

• A valid non-EU Passport alongside a valid residency permit/visa issued by an EU member state

• A valid non-EU Passport stamped upon entry to show the traveller is conforming to the 90/180 day rule 

For travellers in the latter category, it is unclear how incoming border regulations through the Entry/Exit System (EES) will affect checks. 

Manual passport stamping will eventually be replaced by a fully digital system, but border officials are likely to be able to consult this to confirm travellers have correctly registered with the system. 

Travellers who do not have the right to travel can be turned back at the border.