Tighter Eastern border controls to accelerate EU passport-free travel for Poles

Within four years passport controls on the Polish-German border may disappear and merely being in possession of an identity card will be sufficient to travel across the European Union. According to a report prepared by the European Commission, Poland may be allowed to sign the Schengen agreement on lifting passport controls in 2006. The authors of the report stress that this will depend on whether Polish authorities will keep their promises to tighten their Eastern border. The remaining candidates from Eastern Europe, or at least Poland the Czech Republic and Slovakia, will also join the Schengen agreement. This will allow avoiding costly investments in tightening the borders among these countries. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.Z.