Overview
- The federal government reintroduced internal border checks on 16 September 2024 and has extended them three times, most recently until mid‑March 2027.
- Commuters report repeated delays at crossings, with doctor Sören Gärtner saying routine ID checks cost him about five minutes each stop and roughly 1,000 minutes a year.
- Aachen's city council passed a resolution in June calling for an end to the controls and local business groups say the checks cause kilometer‑long traffic jams on the A4 and disrupt cross‑border freight.
- The Bundespolizei has changed tactics in parts of Lower Saxony by removing fixed checkpoints at the A280 (Bunde) and B402 (Twist) and shifting to locally and temporally flexible controls.
- Critics say the measures are largely symbolic because smugglers can use other routes, while officials argue the checks signal a tougher migration policy and may force further operational shifts.