CJEU, 13 December 2018, Touring Tours und Travel & Sociedad de Transportes, C‑412/17 and C-474/17

Preserving and strengthening Schengen or circumventing the prohibition of border checks at the internal borders? The case of outsourced checks on persons performed by carriers

Abstract

In Touring Tours und Travel and Sociedad de Transportes of 13 December 2018 (joint cases C-412/17 and C-474/17), the Court of Justice rules on the prohibition of internal border controls within the Schengen Area. In line with its previous case-law, the Court addresses the issue of a national obligation imposing on coach travel operators the task of checking passengers’ passports and residence permits on routes crossing internal borders as a “measure having an effect equivalent to border checks”.