At the margins of the EU home affairs ministerial meeting in Luxembourg today, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and her Danish counterpart Peter Hummelgaard signed an agreement to intensify border police cooperation between both countries. This agreement will facilitate checks on board trains travelling between Germany and Denmark. The agreement also aims to minimise the impact of police checks on the increasing rail traffic between both countries.

Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser said, "I am pleased that we are further strengthening police cooperation with our close partner and neighbour Denmark. To this end, the agreement we have signed today is important, as it enables effective checks of rail passengers while minimising the negative impacts on travellers.

Since mid-September, the Federal Police have been conducting targeted checks at all German borders, including the German-Danish border. We want to reduce irregular migration further, stop migrant smugglers and criminals, and detect Islamist extremists before they can do harm. This goal unites us with our Danish friends who have also strengthened their border control arrangements. We will closely coordinate our action."

For the Federal Police officers deployed at the German-Danish border, this agreement means that they can operate more efficiently, enhancing the chance of tactical success. Our police officers will no longer have to board trains on the open line so that the risks involved in this dangerous practice will soon be a thing of the past.

More specifically, the agreement includes the following regulations:

• Federal Police officers conducting checks on board cross-border trains on German territory may stay on board until the train reaches the next railway station in Denmark and enter or leave the train there.
• The term "checks" includes both the exercise of police powers such as identity checks in accordance with national law and measures in accordance with Article 23 of the Schengen Borders Code (Regulation (EU) 2016/399).
• Federal Police officers may carry their normal equipment and will be in uniform.
• While they do not have any sovereign powers on Danish territory, they have the right to defend themselves and others.

Under the agreement, the Danish police authority responsible for border police tasks has the same powers on German territory as the Federal Police do on Danish territory.