Speaking to reporters on Friday evening, 31 July 2026, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany was “prepared to prolong and, if necessary, reinforce” the temporary controls it re-introduced at its land borders two years ago to curb irregular migration. The remarks came only hours after Italy announced that it would suspend Schengen free-movement rules for travellers arriving from Spain in response to the mass crossing of an estimated 60,000 migrants into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Germany first brought back systematic checks along stretches of its frontiers with Poland, Czechia and Switzerland in December 2024 and has renewed the measure every three months under Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code. Those controls—implemented by the Federal Police in cooperation with neighbouring authorities—were due to expire on 15 September 2026. Merz’s latest comments make it almost certain that Berlin will ask Brussels for another prolongation and could broaden checks to selected airports and rail links if spill-over routes emerge from Spain. Business-travel associations reacted with alarm. The German Travel Management Association (VDR) warned that additional document screening could lengthen cross-border commutes for the roughly 220,000 employees who shuttle daily between southern Germany and neighbouring countries. Freight forwarders operating time-critical supply chains out of Bavaria and Saxony said they still remember the average 45-minute delays that accompanied the first weeks of the 2024 controls. Airlines serving Frankfurt and Munich fear missed connections if passport booths become chokepoints during the busy late-summer travel peak. Merz defended the move as “proportionate and necessary” to maintain public security amid what he called a “dramatic test” of Europe’s external borders. He stressed that Germany would keep the measures “targeted and intelligence-led,” pointing out that the Commission has never formally objected to earlier extensions—even though Brussels has repeatedly urged a return to normal Schengen rules. The Chancellor also called for accelerated implementation of the EU’s new Common European Asylum System to reduce secondary movements inside the bloc. For companies and mobility professionals the message is clear: travellers entering Germany by road or rail should carry valid passports or ID cards and factor in buffer time. Employers moving staff across intra-EU worksites may need to adjust shift patterns or use digital tools to track time spent in different jurisdictions so that social-security and posted-worker thresholds are not inadvertently breached. Relocation managers should anticipate that family members arriving from third countries could face longer processing times if border-control resources are temporarily diverted. While the political spotlight is on Ceuta, the practical implications will be felt on Germany’s own frontiers—and in its airports—over the weeks ahead.
Source: The Guardian
