Is the Schengen Agreement the Treaty from Hell?

[Ingvaeonic]

What are the views on the Schengen Agreement of forum members that are citizens of states that are in the Schengen Area? Is Schengen's removal of border controls between signatory states a good thing or a bad thing? Looking at the map of the Schengen Area it shows that all EU members and three non-EU states (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland) are in Schengen with the exception of Britain and Ireland. The rules of Schengen have been around since 1985 making EU and non-EU signatories a "common travel area" (endorsed and ratified by the EU in the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999) and facilitating the movement of Europeans within Europe without the usual border controls regarding immigration; but this very facility of allowing greater freedom of movement between European states of their citizens can and does have some very clear disadvantages in allowing undesirables to enter any European country that is a member of the Schengen Area once they have landed in on the soil of a Schengen member state. Do the advantages of Schengen outweigh the disadvantages? Or is the Schengen Agreement the treaty from hell allowing unchecked immigration into European member states? Your views please.

[Hersir]

It is as you say, a treaty from hell. It was suppoused to make it easier for citisens to travel between countries, but it also makes it easy for illegals and other criminals to move easily between borders. Norway needs to get the hell out of Schengen asap.

[Ingvaeonic]

It is as you say, a treaty from hell. It was suppoused to make it easier for citisens to travel between countries, but it also makes it easy for illegals and other criminals to move easily between borders. Norway needs to get the hell out of Schengen asap.

I thought that would be a common view of Schengen of many citizens of its member states.