Cumulative period of checks

Since November 2015, however, there have always been at least 6 Schengen states with checks at their internal borders. This number increased dramatically in 2020 and 2021, reaching a maximum of 18 Schengen states at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020. Six Schengen states (Germany, Austria, France, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) reintroduced checks at their internal borders in 2015 because of concerns over the situation at the EU’s external borders and/or security threats, and they continue to have them in place to this day. By May 2025, each of these Schengen states had accumulated about 3 500 days with checks at their internal borders .