European courts reject UK bid to opt into EU borders projects

2.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 18th Dec 2007

The European Court of Justice, the EU's court, has rejected a UK bid to 'opt in' to EU measures on an external borders agency and on passport technical standards. It has said that the UK cannot pick and choose which 'Schengen zone' measures to sign up to if it refuses to be part of the whole project.

Liberal Democrat European Justice Spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, commented:

"This makes clear that the UK self-exclusion from the EU's Schengen common travel zone and insistence on maintaining our own border controls has a cost. We are being told that we cannot have our cake and eat it.

"This problem will only get worse with the proliferation of UK opt-outs from justice cooperation under the new Treaty of Lisbon. Some strategic thinking needs to be applied to see how the UK can avoid a situation where the costs of splendid isolation outweigh the benefits."