From 14 to 16 July 2025, Villa Vigoni, the German-Italian Centre for European Dialogue hosted the event The Schengen Europe: Political structure, practical implications and external perceptions 40 years after its birth. It was organised within the framework of the German-Italian cooperation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – Villa Vigoni).
The event was coordinated by Dr. Isabel Hilpert (Leibniz-Institut für Länderkunde, Leipzig) & Prof. Simone Paoli (Università di Pisa).
The Schengen Europe
For a long time, the Schengen system was mainly the subject of legal and political studies, but in recent years it has attracted growing attention in other disciplines. On the occasion of two important anniversaries – 40 years after the Schengen Agreement and 30 years after its entry into force – the discussion at Villa Vigoni aims to further develop these multi- and interdisciplinary considerations and analyses and to bring them into a dialogue. The complex structure of the system, its origins, evolution and status, as well as its impact on participating states and the perceptions and narratives that accompany it, will be the subject of multidisciplinary analysis. Aware that Schengen has not only political, but above all human, social and socio-economic implications, affecting the daily lives of millions of people inside and outside its borders.
For more information, visit Villa Vigoni’s website:
Session: Schengen’s impact on culture, law, economy and society (II)
On Tuesday, July 15th, 2025, Raffella Coletti (ISSIRFA-CNR) was invited to contribute to the session on Schengen’s impact on culture, law, economy and society with the presentation entitled The Schengen Treaty and Local Communities at EU Internal Borders: Evidence and Perspectives from Italy.
