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French law grants police and customs extensive powers but that's largely irrelevant. Either it's already allowed and would still be even if France was not making use it or it's simply against EU law but it cannot possibly (re)define what's allowed or not under EU law.
– Relaxed
Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 10:30
1

Incidentally, where does this 100 km limit come from? As far as I know, both for customs (“rayon des douanes”) and police / ID checks, the relevant limit is 20 km. Checks are only allowed in the train station (but not elsewhere in Reims) because it's on an international train line and explicitely listed in legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000025577590 (not sure if any train from Germany or Luxembourg actually stops there anymore but that would be the only legal basis for a border check). Otherwise, it's a run-of-the-mill police check unrelated to the border.
– Relaxed
Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 10:35
@Relaxed I have to admit I don’t know the details. I remember that when customs checks at the border were removed quite a while ago customs got an extended area for checks. My memory tells me it was 100 km from the border but I may be mistaken. The Reims central station is not listed in that Arrêté, only the TGV station outside the city (a different station) and the bus station (also a different place) are listed. There are no international trains going through Reims other than the occasional private hire Orient-Express to Venice, so there must be another reason for customs to operate there.
– jcaron
Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 16:00
1

"My memory tells me it was 100 km from the border but I may be mistaken": perhaps conflated with the US 100-mile zone currently under discussion in another question? Also there are international trains at Champagne-Ardenne TGV -- does that count?
– phoog
Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 16:10
@phoog whatever memory I have is really specific to French customs at the time border posts were removed, but either it changed or I’m mistaken, the current limit is at 20 km extensible to 60. I’ve seen customs agents waiting in the underground passage at Reims central station 2 or 3 times (last time it made the news because they caught something big). No idea if they operate at Champagne-Ardenne (which even though it’s on the high-speed line, I’m not sure actually has any international trains stopping there). Weird but I’m too lazy to try to find the justification for all this at this time.
– jcaron
Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 20:42

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