At the beginning of the ‘80, at European level, a discussion on the importance of the term “free movement” started.      
In 1984, Helmut Kohl and François Mitterand met at « Goldene Brenn » border crossing point, near Saarbrücken. It was here that the decision of eliminating border controls between Germany and France was taken. Neither one of them suspected then, that this visionary meeting will have such an impact for a Europe without internal borders and border controls

Their vision lead, at first, to an agreement between Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, signed in 1985, on the “Astrid” ship, on Mosel River, near Schengen, a small border city in Luxembourg.

The signing of the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement on 19 June 1990 followed. When the Convention entered into force in 1995, controls at the internal borders of the member states were eliminated and a single external border where controls followed a set of clear rules was created.

Also, common rules regarding visa, migration, asylum policy and measures regarding police, judicial and customs cooperation were created. All these measures, together with the Schengen Agreement, the Convention, the decisions and the declarations adopted by the Schengen Executive Committee, established in 1990, the Protocols and Agreements witch followed represent the Schengen acquis.

At the beginning, the Schengen acquis was not part of the European legislation. This however changed by signing the Amsterdam Treaty, in 2 October 1997, which entered into force on 1 May 1999. A Protocol attached to the Amsterdam Treaty incorporates the Schengen acquis into the legal and institutional framework of the European Union.
Thus, the Schengen acquis is part of the community legislation  and was transposed in the new Title V – visas, asylum, immigration and other politics regarding the free movement.