Had I blinked, I would have missed it.\u00a0 We approached the German-French border at nearly 100mph, and our speed dipped not one jot as we drove from one country to the next.\u00a0 The Rhine, still watched but no longer warred over, provides a visual reminder that this is one of Europe’s great divides, but the border posts, check points and barriers have disappeared.\u00a0 Even the kind of ‘Welcome to…’ signs with which British local authorities mark their boundaries are absent from many points where Gauls and Teutons abut.<\/p>\n
Returning to Germany a few days later, I did notice the former checkpoint.\u00a0 Not more than 20 years old, the building is boarded up and distinguished only by a thick layer of dirt.<\/p>\n
Europe’s unguarded borders are the result of the Schengen Agreement of 1985.\u00a0 Now covering 26 countries, it has led to the gradual whittling away of identity checks.\u00a0 Today 400 million citizens move within an area of 1.6 million square miles as though it was one country.\u00a0 With border crossing so easy, it is hardly surprising that big retailers along many borders advertise on both sides and employ staff specially to serve the \u2018guest shoppers\u2019.\u00a0 Commuting to work in a neighboring country is increasingly common and 17% of EU citizens expect to work abroad at some point in their lifetimes.<\/p>\n
There is some residual skepticism about life without checkpoints, of course.\u00a0 Nicolas Sarkozy voiced just such concerns in his 2012 re-election campaign.\u00a0 One upshot of his defeat is that free movement still has the upper hand.<\/p>\n
The contrast with my passage between Montenegro and Croatia a few weeks earlier was stark.\u00a0 Twenty five years ago you could drive between these former Yugoslavian republics just as you can today between Germany and France.\u00a0 The fraught break up of General Tito\u2019s federation brought that traffic to an abrupt halt.<\/p>\n
Today all who wish to journey between these former sister republics have their credentials scrupulously checked twice, no matter how frequently they make the journey.\u00a0 At both, checkpoints, motorists shut down their engines and submit passports, insurance documents and vehicle registration certificates.\u00a0 All are scrutinised with a seemingly angry ferocity by armed officials.\u00a0 If your paperwork is found wanting, passage is denied.\u00a0 Vehicles are also routinely searched.\u00a0 I watched one apparently holidaying family with ‘GB’ plates emptying their packed boot of childrens’ toys for an item-by-item inspection.<\/p>\n
A Montenegrin friend, in his 50s, told me that, despite living within 10 miles of the Dubrovnik, he couldn’t think of a single person of his acquaintance who worked in Croatia.\u00a0 Its not surprising. If either check point runs a bit slow, huge queues build up.\u00a0 I waited for over an hour in the area between border posts one day when most of the Croatian staff were occupied searching cars.<\/p>\n