Border Checks Extended Across Seven Schengen Nations Through Mid-2027

Seven Schengen area member states have officially extended temporary internal border controls into 2027, pushing passport checks and land border inspections months past initial phase-out timelines.

The notifications, filed directly with the European Commission, mean corporate travel, logistics networks, and cross-border commuter routes will face ongoing physical inspections. While the European Commission directed member states five months ago to begin phasing out internal checkpoints, seven governments renewed their mandates citing ongoing security and migration concerns. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden coordinated their latest filings simultaneously, locking in an additional six-month window that extends checks through May 11, 2027.

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The operational impact varies significantly depending on the route and travel mode. France and Sweden maintain full-scope controls covering all land, air, and sea arrival points, which subjects intra-Schengen flights and maritime routes to document checks. Germany has reinstated checks across all nine of its land borders, while other states have restricted checks to specific corridors. Norway’s mandate applies strictly to ferry ports connecting to the Schengen zone, leaving road entries from Sweden unchecked under Norwegian rules.

Country	Controls Until	Borders Covered
Austria	15 March 2027	Land and river borders with Slovakia; land borders with Czechia, Hungary, and Slovenia
Denmark	11 May 2027	Land and sea borders with Germany
France	30 April 2027	All internal borders (land, air, and sea) with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, and Italy
Germany	15 March 2027	Land borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and Poland
Italy	18 December 2026	Land border with Slovenia
Norway	11 May 2027	Ports with ferry connections to the Schengen area
Poland	30 March 2027	Land borders with Germany and Lithuania
Sweden	11 May 2027	All internal borders (land, air, and sea), including the land border with Denmark

Germany, Austria, and Sweden have now maintained continuous border checks along selected transit points since autumn 2015, with Denmark maintaining checks since January 2016. Italy remains the only active state that has not yet formally notified the European Commission of a 2027 extension for its Slovenian land border checks, which are currently slated to end on December 18, 2026. Conversely, the Netherlands let its temporary controls expire at the end of September, and reciprocal air and sea checks between Italy and Spain have concluded.