PRAGUE (Sputnik) — Earlier in November, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem warned that several EU countries could form a "mini-Schengen" area in an attempt to protect their borders if the bloc fails to settle the refugee crisis.
"Opportunistic proposals for radical transformation of the current Schengen into the so-called mini-Schengens in any form and scale, and likewise direct or covert efforts to limit freedom of movement exceed the legal framework and threaten the European integration, and therefore are unacceptable," the prime ministers said in a statement.
These proposals do not address the problems the current refugee crisis presents, they added.
The prime ministers also agreed to set up a group of "Friends of Schengen" to serve as a platform for discussing the existing Schengen rules, with the aim of improving them.
The Schengen system has been heavily criticized for its failure to cope with the huge influx of people fleeing war-torn Syria, Afghanistan who have arrived in Europe in the recent months.
