Abstract
This article focuses on how the Schengen Governance Package, and in particular the revised legal framework on the temporary reinstatement of internal border checks, should be valued within the broader process of crimmigration. First we elaborate upon both the recent incidents that underline the criminalization of migration in Europe and the recent developments in the Schengen legal framework on internal border control. Subsequently, based on an analysis of official notification letters issued by the respective Member States, we analyse the development of how often, and on which grounds, they temporarily closed their internal borders in the period of January 2000 - March 2014. In doing so, we pay attention not only to the question whether Member States have been using (the fear of) (cr)immigration as a reason to invoke the exception clause, but also to the transparency of the procedures that were followed. Following an assessment of the Schengen Governance Package in light of this analysis, we address certain other forms of border control developing within the Schengen zone. In conclusion, we argue that the way in which the European Commission and the Council responded to immigration-related anxieties is understandable but might have contrary effects in the long run.
Highlights
Ever since the inception of the Schengen zone, the abolition of internal border controls was meant simultaneously to enable movement without physical barriers or border guards and to enhance European economic integration and interdependence
To outline the actual use of the Schengen provisions related to the temporary reinstatement of internal border controls in the period of research, the following tendencies have been analysed below: (i) the number of cases per country, (ii) the number of cases per year and (iii) the events triggering the temporary reinstatements of internal border controls
The Schengen Governance Package is the European Commission and Council’s response to the alleged Schengen ‘crisis’ that resulted from the increased influx of North-African immigrants through one of the weak patches in the EU’s external border and the subsequent anxious responses of both southern and northern European Member States
Summary
Ever since the inception of the Schengen zone, the abolition of internal border controls was meant simultaneously to enable movement without physical barriers or border guards and to enhance European economic integration and interdependence. Concerns about immigration within the Schengen zone grew as a result of these facilitated residence permits, compelling the European Commission to provide a response. Whereas the lack of finding any past abuse of the temporary closure of internal borders does not warrant future abuse, our analysis does raise questions on the impact of the new rules introduced by the Schengen Governance Package from a crimmigration perspective. The Schengen Governance Package resulted in two important changes: the adoption of a new evaluation mechanism verifying the application of the Schengen rules by Member States and a greater clarification of the conditions under which and how states can reintroduce controls at their internal borders. In line with the scope of this paper, we will focus on the second set of changes
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