ABSTRACT
This chapter elaborates on the formal aspects surrounding the issue of enlargement in the Schengen regime and considers some of the technical and political problems that have been raised in the past. It examines two historical cases of Schengen enlargement anxiety, Italy and the Scandinavian countries, respectively, detailing how this pathological condition emerged and was addressed. The chapter also examines the parallels between the regime's past and present bouts of enlargement anxiety and explores their implications for the future of Europe's border control regime. In the early phases of the Schengen regime's history, its founding members focused mainly on establishing the legal and political foundations of the creation of a border-free Europe. It was deemed essential that a small, compact group of countries should be involved at this early stage. The idea of involving the Scandinavian countries in the common management of European borders came up not in the context of the Schengen regime, but within the European Community framework.
