Concern mounts that border measures threaten EU free travel

The future of ID-check free travel across 26 European countries is at risk if governments do not ease soon the emergency border restrictions they introduced to halt the spread of the coronavirus, European Union lawmakers and officials warned Tuesday.

As the virus outbreaks expanded in Italy in February, the country's neighbors imposed border measures to keep the disease out, without any consultation. Others then followed suit until almost half the members of the zone known as the Schengen area had reintroduced controls of some kind.

Free movement is a jewel in Europe's crown which helps business flourish by allowing goods and people to seamlessly cross borders. Schengen came under pressure as countries introduced measures after the arrival of more than 1 million migrants in 2015, and in response to a series of extremist attacks. Some countries have kept those controls...