East Brandenburg Pro-Business Alliance welcomes EU recommendation on the gradual dismantling of internal border controls
The East Brandenburg Pro-Business Alliance welcomes the European Commission's latest statement on internal border controls in the Schengen area. The Commission recommends working towards a gradual reduction and lifting of controls.
"Border controls have been a burden on our border region for far too long – economically, entrepreneurially and in people's everyday lives. Traffic jams, longer transport times, more difficult commutes and uncertainty in supply and service chains affect companies and employees on both sides of the Oder", explains Monique Zweig, Managing Director of the East Brandenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce and spokesperson for the "Bündnis pro Wirtschaft".
In its statement, the European Commission expressly points out that Schengen makes a significant contribution to the functioning of the internal market and the economic prosperity of the EU: Goods, workers and services can cross internal borders unhindered, cross-border regions thrive, administrative burdens are reduced and economies of scale are created.
"The free EU internal market is Europe's economic strength. We must use this strength again – for our companies, for skilled workers, for supply chains and for the competitiveness of our region", says Monique Zweig.
East Brandenburg lies between Berlin and the border with Poland and is economically closely intertwined with the neighbouring country. Around 17,000 employees subject to social insurance contributions with Polish citizenship work in East Brandenburg, including more than 10,000 commuters from Poland. At the A12 border crossing alone, 3.55 million vehicles subject to tolls are registered each year.
In light of this, the Alliance for the Economy is in favour of an orderly, coordinated and gradual dismantling of controls. Security remains important, but must not be permanently organised at the expense of border regions.
The Alliance also sees itself strengthened by recent case law, according to which internal border controls must be strictly justified, limited in time and proportionate. In specific cases, the Bavarian Administrative Court and the Administrative Court of Koblenz ruled that identity checks and the underlying extensions of internal border controls were unlawful or contrary to EU law.
In its opinion of 2 June 2026, the European Commission emphasised that more efficient alternatives to systematic internal border controls are available. These include non-systematic police checks, mobile biometric identification, vehicle tracking technologies and greater regional cooperation.