On Tuesday 28 April 2026, the Young European Federalists of Luxembourg (Jeunes Européens Fédéralistes - JEF Luxembourg) released its response to the recent decision by the Administrative Court of Koblenz which ruled that a border check carried out at the Perl-Schengen crossing on 11 June 2025 was unlawful.
Following the ruling, JEF Luxembourg noted that the Court found that Germany’s extension of internal border controls at the Luxembourg-Germany border for the period 16 March to 15 September 2025 did not meet the legal requirements of the Schengen Border Code and called on the Luxembourgish government to act on it immediately.
JEF Luxembourg said: “It is worth pausing to consider where this case originates. The border checks were carried out on the border with Schengen, the name of a small village on the Moselle where in 1985 five countries sat down together on the Marie-Astrid and signed an agreement that has come to define what it means to live in a united Europe. The irony is bitter. It is crossing into Schengen that people are being stopped and asked to prove who they are in violation of the very principles that the village gave its name to.”
JEF Luxembourg highlighted in its statement that the Court found that Germany failed to establish the factual basis required under Article 25(1)(c) of the Schengen Border Code. Specifically, it found that Germany did not demonstrate a “sudden” surge in irregular migration between Luxembourg and Germany, did not adequately assess the capacity and resources of the competent authorities, and did not show that the functioning of the Schengen areas as a whole was likely to be jeopardised. The Court also confirmed that the notification letter submitted to the European Commission, with the formal justification for extending controls, was insufficient and not supported by the necessary evidence.
JEF Luxembourg remarked: “This goes to show that the controls were never lawfully justified, hence were introduced illegally. This ruling confirms what JEF Luxembourg already said in its previous statement. Since September 2024, hundreds of thousands of commuters, students, workers and families crossing the Luxembourg-Germany border every day have had their freedom of movement curtailed on the basis of measures that a court has now declared illegal. That is unacceptable.”
JEF Luxembourg called on Luxembourg Minister for Home Affairs, Leon Gloden to contact his German counterpart “without delay” and formally demand the suspension of border controls at the Luxembourg-Germany border.
The pro-European youth organisation added: “A court has found that the German government did not properly assess the situation before extending controls. This demands an immediate response.”
JEF Luxembourg detailed that the German government has already extended controls through 15 September 2026 under a new notification and urged the Luxembourgish government to “make clear to Berlin that further extensions, made on the same deficient basis that a court has now rejected, are legally untenable”.
It emphasised that Luxembourg must also renew its calls on the European Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, to open infringement proceedings against Germany without further delay. Should the Commission fail to act, Luxembourg should not rule out exercising its right under Article 259 TFEU to bring Germany before the Court of Justice of the EU.
JEF Luxembourg stressed: “There are real world impacts of these controls. Around 223,000 frontaliers cross the Luxembourg border every single day to work. Many of them are Luxembourg nationals who live across the border because housing in Luxembourg has become unaffordable. These are people who built their lives around the promise of Schengen. Every morning they face checks that a court has now found to be illegal.”
JEF Luxembourg noted that the Court has allowed an appeal but highlighted that legal proceedings take time and people are affected now. “Political action must not wait for the outcome of an appeal. The Koblenz Court has drawn a line. Luxembourg must stand behind it,” it said, adding: “What was meant to be an emergency measure of last resort has become a routine tool, extended every six months with insufficient justification. French, German, Belgian and Luxembourgish daily life has been woven together for decades into one of the most integrated cross-border communities in Europe. This community, the Greater Region, deserves better. Schengen is not just a legal framework. It is a place. And that place deserves to be free.”
