No. The Schengen agreement predates the NY attacks and has proved successful.

There are many Europeans (including me) who find Immigration checks at FRA and elsewhere when arriving from the UK and on returning to the UK tiresome and unnecessary.

Well, there are the border checks between Arizona and California :D . Ah, no, they're 'Agricultural', so that's all right, then ;) .

Then there was the diversion of traffic on the freeway between Nogales AZ and Tucson AZ - the only freeway with distances in km :p - where we were 'interviewed' at the top of the offramp by what looked like state police. As we were gringos with CA license plates, the cop asked 'Going home?' meaning LA, presumably. I managed my best Cary Grant accent to say 'Well yes, actually, officer' and we were waved on our way. But not exactly free movement.

Europe is a continent. The Schengen agreement is between 12 members of the EU. The EU is not the same as Europe. As explained elsewhere, there are border controls.

re Switzerland. The Swiss already enjoy free movement with EU and EEA countries under the bilaterals. Entering the UK, they join the same lines as UK and other EU and EEA member nationals. The same applies in reverse, i.e. EU/EEA nationals enter Switzerland on the same terms as the Swiss.

The Swiss voted in the last referendum to join the Schengen agreement - logical when they are surrounded by Schengen countries. There remains some tidying up to be done. Chances are Switzerland will be a 'better' notional EU member in this respect than actual members the UK, Ireland and Denmark :D .

Also, free movement between Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France predated the Schengen agreement with no apparent harm to security

As part of the free movement rules, foreigners including other EU citizens in a Schengen state do need identity documents.

Many subjects at once...

I do hate taxes as well but the CHF 40.- do not bother me as the road tolls in other countries....

Just for your information: The Swiss sticker HAS to be glued immediately on the windshield. If caught having one but not stuck, there is an additional CHF 100.- in fine. :td:

Beware also that in Italy a bright safety vest (yellow or organge) MUST be in the vehicle. The Italian police is very keen on the fine :mad:

Customs in Switzerland: Switzerland does not belong to Schengen. As such they are REQUIRED from the EU to have border personnel and they do random checks. A few weeks ago, however, the Swiss voted in a referendum to be part of Schengen, so within a year you will not have the feeling they are battling the unemployment statistics. They WILL be unemployed...

When renting a car out of Milan, REQUEST a car with the sticker for Switzerland. They will accommodate you.

I have done that repeatedly with both Avis and Hertz but with no luck. :mad:

Quite right, especially when compared with road tolls in France! I just wonder how much of the CHF 40 is spent on administration. It hardly seems worth the bother.

About sticking on to the windscreen, I am told that if you want to transfer the sticker to another car, you can't. The sticker is designed to disintegrate if you try. However, if you first stick it on to a piece if clear polythene and apply the polythene side on to the windscreen, it is removable. Of course, I don't know this from experience :eek: .

The safey vest requirement for ALL occupants is becoming mandatory in some other EU countries. Soon, we'll all need them. I just picked up my new car in the UK and yellow vests were included with the safety equipment :) .

Israelis are as privileged as Americans when coming to Switzerland, a little bit the same as the status for the countries under the Visa Waiver Program in the US.
It would be different if you had a Syrian, Lebanese or Saudi passport, believe you me...

I guess because they are in Italy where variable road tolls apply. Can't really blame them for not increasing their costs by paying for a foreign tax. Rent in Switzerland and you get a Swiss sticker.

I haven't rented in Austria since they introduced a simlar system to the Swiss, but I imagine the Austrian renters would include the sticker.

Not only you can't, but it is not allowed. The sticker will disintegrate but worse, trying to stick it to plythene is considered a crime (like tax evasion in the US) and the fines ARE horrendous. Don't ever try it. ;)

I don't expect them to pay for these stickers. However, given the fact that so many cars rented at MXP are driven into the Lugano area I would expect that after the first few months of any year most of them would have stickers paid for by other renters.

I can't understand why I never managed to get one.

Probably just bad luck, I suppose. :(
If you are coming this way soon :) , I still have one that was offered to me, I'll gladly send it to you.

I appreciate the offer but about a year ago my UIG bought a bigger car so now when we go to Lugano we take her already-stickered car. :)

Who? Me? :D No, seriously I haven't and wouldn't - it's not necessary for me.

I just think that CHF 40 is such an inconsequential sum - introduced (at a lower rate) to support the building of the motorway system which is now just about complete, so rationally it should disappear - though taxes don't disappear, do they :rolleyes: ? CHF 40 for a year is not too bad, for a weekend it is too much.

My easy way of avoiding the Swiss toll is to pretend it doesn't exist. I've driven into CH many, many times with rental cars from other countries and a couple of times with my own car. I've never had a problem.

One time I went through a very lightly used Swiss border checkpoint and the guard asked me a bunch of questions and looked at my passport. But I think he was just bored and eventually he waved me through. I was driving a French Avis Mercedes.

If you do not enter Swizerland on the autostrada you will not have to buy the sticker. It is not required for use on regular roads.

You are, of course, subject to a fine if you later get on the autostrada but no Swiss policeman has ever gotten close enough to my car to see if I have one. Just make certain that when you leave the country you also go through a non-autostrada road.

I've come and gone on both autostrada and non autostrada roads. Never a problem.

I think that whenever people propose policy, they should be able to point to an actual problem that they are trying to solve. Then, everyone can look at the problem and look at the solution and see if the solution solves the problem.

Now, what is the problem? You see the lack of border security as a problem. But is it? I don't think so. No one is dying or hurt because of that lack of security. Now, if there were an actual problem, like terrorists sneaking from Paris to London to do dirty deeds, well then we might have to look for a solution.

The world has enough problems. We should concentrate on the ones that actually exist.