Union's External Borders Research Articles

THE EXERCISE OF STATE POWER OVER MIGRANTS AT SEA THROUGH TECHNOLOGIES OF REMOTE CONTROL: RECONCEPTUALIZING HUMAN RIGHTS JURISDICTION

AbstractThe employment of cutting-edge technology in the European Union's external border management is transforming the way that States acquire control over seaborne migrants and deconstructing traditional conceptions of border and territory. This article sheds light on a new generation of human rights violations on the high seas, where people's rights become contingent on their geographical location which is increasingly traceable by monitoring bodies. Amidst the burgeoning phenomena of abandonment at sea and contemporary forms of migrant push-backs, this article contends that human rights jurisdiction ought to be reconceptualized in functional terms to capture new modalities of State power, that if and when exercised, can amount to effective control, triggering a State's human rights obligations.

Frontex as a hub for surveillance and data sharing: Challenges for data protection and privacy rights

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, more commonly known as Frontex, was established in 2004 with “a view to improving the integrated management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union.” It was tasked with the responsibility of providing technical support and expertise to Member States in the management of borders. Over the years its mandate has increased considerably through amendments to its legislative framework. This expansion has taken place against a background of serious allegations concerning Frontex's role in violating the fundamental rights of asylum seekers through its involvement in pushback operations – the practice of stopping asylum-seekers and migrants in need of protection at or before they reach the European Union's external border. While Frontex's complicity in pushbacks has been widely examined by academics, its transformation into a major surveillance and data processing hub and its compliance (or lack thereof) with the fundamental rights to privacy and protection of personal data have received limited academic attention.This paper traces the evolution of Frontex over the years and fundamental rights implications of the transformation of its role.

BORDER SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL SYSTEM, PERSPECTIVES FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION

Effective management of the European Union's external borders is a key priority and a condition for the proper implementation and maintenance of the Schengen area of free movement, which is one of the most important achievements of European integration. One of the cornerstones of effective management of the European Union's external borders is the timely, accurate and complete exchange of information between all the authorities responsible for controlling the European Union's external borders. The establishment of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) is an effective tool for such an exchange of information. Within the framework of the EUROSUR project implementation, Latvia has started work on the establishment of the Border Surveillance and Control System, which in the near future will become a basic tool in the development of the Latvian situation image with its further integration into the European situation image. The aim of the study is to study the EUROSUR implementation guidelines at the European Union level, to study the development and implementation of the Border Surveillance and Control System in the State Border Guard, to analyze its functionality and practical application possibilities, to study the existing problems in the Border Surveillance and Control System, and to evaluate.

Fortress Europe, Global Migration & the Global Pandemic

The European Union's external border regime is a manifestation of continuing imperialism. It reinforces particular imaginaries of Europe's wealth as somehow innate (rather than plundered and extorted) and of Europeanness itself as whiteness—euphemistically packaged as a “European Way of Life” to be protected. This exposes international law's structural limitations—if not designs—as bound up with racial borders in the global context. In the wake of COVID-19 and with a climate apocalypse already underway, these realities need to be urgently ruptured and reimagined.

Integrisano upravljanje granicama u pravu EU i njegova primena u Republici Srbiji

The subject of research in this paper is the protection of the European Union's external borders by the establishment and implementation of The European integrated border management system. In addition to the implementation by the Member States, this system i.e., the adoption of the Union's (Schengen) acquis, is a priority for the candidate countries during accession negotiations. The process of negotiation for the accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union and the opening of Chapter 24, entitled Justice, Freedom, and Security, obliges the Republic of Serbia to accept and implement the European legislation into the national legal system within the field of border security and control. The emergence of the European system of integrated management of external borders is connected with the abolition of internal borders within Schengen integration and designed as a system of protection shaped by European Council guidelines, EU Council conclusions and EU secondary law, to become part of primary law after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. Its components and application have a significant impact on the permeability of borders for the flow of people and economic goods and the suppression of security threats at the external (EU) borders of member states, the borders of the Western Balkans and the Republic of Serbia.

Croatian Experience with the Refugee Crisis on the Balkan Route and Possible Implications for Social Work Practice and Education

The purpose of this review article is to describe some aspects of the migration crises experience that Croatia as a Member State on the European Union external border went through as a transit country on the Balkan route 2015–2016. In that period of time, migrant movement was the most intensive, when Croatia received more than 600,000 refugees and migrants who migrated mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other Middle East countries, escaping from the war devastation. The international and national legal frameworks on refugees’ rights’ protection are presented as well as EU funds for the refugee crisis and improving migration management. The main focus is on elaboration of organized social services and psychosocial support in Croatian reception centers. Interplay between public and civil sector in providing needed services for the different migrants’ needs is explained. Since Croatia in 1990s experienced a strong war devastation and refugee crisis, comparison on similarities and differences basis is described. Migrants’ reception-recovery process and aspects of the role of the social work profession are highlighted, as well as possible improvement in social work practice and education based on the recent migrant crisis experience.

Przeciwdziałanie nielegalnej emigracji na granicy polsko-rosyjskiej w dobie członkostwa Polski w Unii Europejskiej

<p>Przeciwdziałaniu nielegalnej emigracji do państw Unii Europejskiej służą akty prawa unijnego i krajowego. Do najważniejszych unijnych aktów prawa należy zaliczyć: traktat o funkcjonowaniu Unii Europejskiej, program „Otwarta i bezpieczna Europa: realizacja założeń” oraz dyrektywy w sprawie przeciwdziałania nielegalnej migracji. Do polskich aktów prawnych należą ustawy: o cudzoziemcach, o udzielaniu cudzoziemcom ochrony na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej, o wjeździe, pobycie i wyjeździe z terytorium Polski, o promocji zatrudnienia i rynku pracy, o skutkach powierzania pracy cudzoziemcom nielegalnie przebywającym na terytorium Polski, ustawa o straży granicznej. Nielegalni migranci mogli wjechać do Polski przez sześć granicznych przejść osobowych na odcinku granicy polsko-rosyjskiej. W latach 2004–2016 liczba zatrzymanych na zewnętrznej granicy UE wzrosła, a spadła na odcinku granicy polsko-rosyjskiej. Liczba zatrzymanych na zewnętrznej granicy UE za przekroczenie granicy państwowej wbrew przepisom lub usiłowanie przekroczenia utrzymywała się na stałym poziomie. Wzrosła w 2008 r. po wejściu w życie traktatu z S chengen, a następnie w 2014 r. w związku z migracjami z Ukrainy na początku konfliktu rosyjsko-ukraińskiego. Analiza narodowości osób zatrzymanych na granicy polsko-rosyjskiej wykazała, iż zatrzymani to głównie obywatele rosyjskiej i czeczeńskiej narodowości. Liczba osób wydalonych z Polski przez zewnętrzną granicę UE w latach 2004–2014 spadła. Od kryzysu ukraińsko-rosyjskiego do końca badanego okresu wzrosła w związku z kryzysem migracyjnym. Liczba osób przekazanych przez granicę polsko-rosyjską była niewielka i w 2004 r. wyniosła 60, tj. 1,07% ogółu. Na granicy polsko-rosyjskiej w latach 2004–2016 w Polsce przyjęto nieliczne osoby, oznacza to iż, procedura przyjęć była realizowana na pozostałych częściach granicy zewnętrznej Unii Europejskiej.</p>

Plastic Hospitality: The Empty Signifier of the EU's First Reception System in the Mediterranean

Hospitality and hospitality-laden language feature highly amongst people working in or around structures of first reception in Italy and Malta at the European Union external border. This is peculiar because hospitality rarely features at first reception which is part of the state’s border system. Characteristically security issues are prioritised, and the first reception system is managed by security agents of the state, in collaboration with EU and international security agents. In practice, first reception refers to the processes of identification, registration and classification that irregular migrants go through for having crossed the border without authorisation, and often, without identification. Drawing on long term and multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Italy and Malta, this paper examines some of the uses of hospitality language by a spectrum of territorial borderworkers operating with state, non-state, security, humanitarian and activist entities in these two countries. Discourse analysis yields interesting insights into how the use of the hospitality paradigm and hospitality terminology in first reception is less about hospitality practices and more about power. It proposes that the hospitality paradigm be conceptualised as a Laclauian empty signifier, and therefore a locus of power which is what should be targeted by political groups seeking change.

PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE STATE BORDER GUARD OF LATVIA AND FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE BORDER GUARD SERVICE OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION

One of the main State Border Guard priorities is to maintain and develop the state border guarding system, according to the European Union external borders requirements, by fulfilling the conditions of the Schengen acquis. Schengen acquis provides that international cooperation in the field of border security can have multilateral, bilateral and local dimensions. In this context, an agreements concluded with bordering countries on cooperation in the field of border management is an effective tool to strengthen border security (EU Schengen Catalogue, 2002). In research as methodology are used scientific literature in the field of international law, treaties and agreements, the law of the Republic of Latvia, the State border guard of the internal regulations and the State border guard of unpublished materials. The Republic of Latvia and the Russian Federation cooperate in the field of development and implementation of coherent measures for the border control. Cooperation with RF is executed based on treaties and agreements concluded, as well, maintaining contacts between competent representatives of both countries at various management levels. The extensive cooperation between neighbouring countries on maintenance of security at the border results in the elucidation of the incidents occurring at the state border and other relevant issues, at the same time providing stability and security at the common border.

Mały ruch graniczny – konsekwencje dla regionów przygranicznych

Local border traffic at the Polish section of the European Union external border as a factor influencing the development of border regions
 It is in the interest of the European Union and Poland to ensure that the borders with its neighbors are not a barrier to trade, social and cultural interchange or regional cooperation. Such indication was included in the preamble of the Regulation No. 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States. The institution of local border traffic is very popular among the citizens of border areas. Thus – in the light of scale of the phenomenon – numerous questions arise: whether (in the economic dimension) the balance of the consequences of the implementation of the agreements on LBT is positive? Does an asymmetry of benefits take place, ie. the implementation of the agreement is more beneficial for one of its sides? Given the above views, the purpose of this article is the assessment of the economic consequences of its implementation (on the background of the prerequisite for the establishment of the LBT).

Uncertainties at the European Union's southern borders: actors, policies, and legal frameworks

A multiplicity of legal and political arrangements regulate the European Union's external borders. With borders representing the intersection between national and international law and politics, the EU also acquired some legal competences in this realm. The resulting triple set of rules coincides with the growing disaggregation of the classical functions of borders. This state of affairs generates legal and procedural uncertainties and results in a growing ambiguity and lack of transparency, in terms of competences and accountability. Due to the EU's concerns with transnational terrorism, and the growing securitization of migration, the EU's borders with the states of the Middle East and North Africa are particularly relevant in this regard, with the resulting uncertainties touching upon fundamental rights. This article discusses the conceptual starting point of the growing institutional, legal, and political complexity at the EU's southern borders, together with relevant aspects and developments, thus also providing the background to the different contributions in this special issue.

The Human Cost of the European Union's External Border Regime

The Human Cost of the European Union's External Border Regime

Crisis in the Mediterranean neighbourhood: A test for the European union migration policy

The paper analyses the implementation of the EU immigration and asylum policy and the control of EU member states' external borders in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. The author argues that the European Union pursues an exclusive version of those policies aimed at reducing the immigration pressure as well as preventing illegal border crossings into the member states. Two key mechanisms have been identified in the EU policy implementation: 1) a restrictive border control regime, and 2) agreements to transfer border management and supervision tasks to the third countries (transitional countries). The author emphasizes that the development of an exclusive migration strategy was not followed by the needed changes of the inclusive aspects of the EU immigration and asylum policy and the control of external borders; in fact, the EU member state's asylum systems were not preventively strengthened as to enhance national capacities to receive and integrate new migrants. The dramatic increase of the number of illegal crossings of the European Union external borders in 2014 caused the collapse of the EU immigration strategy, and failures in national asylum systems of the member states. The author concludes that partially integrated EU immigration and asylum policy at national level led to the dysfunctional external border management and the EU's loss of control over massive immigration influxes.

Beyond the border: exploring cross-scalar socio-spatial dynamics of conflict, resistance and encounter at the Ceuta–Morocco borderscapes

Along and across the border between the Spanish enclave of Ceuta and Morocco, cooperative and conflictual interactions, and a local amendment to the European Union external borders regime, have produced a multiplicity of everyday ‘atypical’ trade dynamics. These, in turn, have shaped the socio-spatial configurations of the enclave and, far beyond, of the neighbouring Tanger-Tetouan Region. Adopting the notion of ‘borderscapes’ as its main conceptual perspective, combined with research undertaken in Morocco, this article suggests that existing relational spaces and (informal) interactions can be catalysts for new perspectives of socio-spatial integration along and across the border, within the ‘cracks’ of current border regimes.

Local cross-border cooperation at the European Union's external border The meaning of local in the European Neighbourhood Policy

The article examines a key priority in European Union policy toward the east and south: the effort to turn the external border areas into secure, stable, and prospering regions via support for cross-border cooperation. This features highly in a range of policies brought together under the European Neighbourhood Policy and in the partnership with Russia. The main question asked by the article is if these policies live up to the goal of involving local actors. Based on a content analysis of program documents and a categorization of project partners by actor type, the article argues that the notion of "local" can be subject to various understandings, but if we understand local versus regional along the lines of the European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) classification, the policy in practice is undoubtedly tilted toward regional rather than local cross-border cooperation. In addition, the article argues that the four objectives of the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument-Cross Border Cooperation (ENPI-CBC) do not match what could realistically be achieved with the resources available. Spanish El artículo examina una prioridad clave en la política de la Unión Europea hacia el este y el sur: el esfuerzo de convertir las zonas fronterizas exteriores en regiones seguras, estables y prósperas a través del apoyo a la cooperación transfronteriza. Este tema es fundamental en una serie de políticas públicas reunidas en la Política Europea de Vecindad y en la asociación con Rusia. La principal cuestión planteada en el texto es si estas políticas alcanzan el objetivo de involucrar a los actores locales. Con base en un análisis de contenido de los documentos del programa y en una categorización de los socios del proyecto por tipo de actor, el artículo sostiene que la noción de "local" puede ser objeto de diversas interpretaciones, pero si entendemos lo local frente a lo regional en la clasificación NUTS (Nomenclatura de las Unidades Territoriales Estadísticas) Europea, en la práctica la política está indudablemente inclinada hacia la cooperación transfronteriza regional más que a la local. Además, el artículo sostiene que los cuatro objetivos del IEVA-CT (Instrumento Europeo de Vecindad y Asociación - Cooperación transfronteriza) no coinciden con lo que realísticamente se puede lograr con los recursos disponibles. French Cet article examine une priorité clé dans la politique de l'Union européenne vis-à-vis de l'Est et du Sud: l'effort de transformer les zones frontalières extérieures en régions sûres, stables et prospères via un soutien à la coopération transfrontalière. Cet objectif figure au centre des priorités de la Politique européenne de voisinage et de partenariat avec la Russie. La principale question posée dans ce texte est celle de savoir si ces politiques sont en mesure de faire participer les acteurs locaux. Fondé sur l'analyse des documents et du contenu des programmes, ainsi que sur la catégorisation des projets de partenariat et du type d'acteurs, l'article affirme que la notion de «local» peut être sujette à diverses interprétations, mais que si nous analysons le terme à l'échelle régionale suivant les critères dé finis par la nomenclature européenne NUTS (Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques), nous verrons que dans la pratique, la politique européenne semble plus axée vers la coopération transfrontalière régionale que locale. En outre, l'article affirme que les quatre objectifs du IEVP-CTF (Instrument Européen de Voisinage et de Partenariat- Coopération transfrontalière) ne cadrent pas réellement avec les ressources disponibles.

It is about more than just Training: The Effect of Frontex Border Guard Training

Border guards are the first actors that asylum-seekers and refugees encounter when crossing national borders to seek asylum. What assures the capacity of border guards is training and, in the European context, the European Union border agency Frontex has developed a common border guard training regime that European Union Member States have participated in forming. This article asks what impact this Frontex training has brought to the field of European Union external border management. Building upon the works of sociological institutionalists, it argues that Frontex training has brought an integrative effect to the field with the effects of socialization and professionalization at a European level. These effects, which are brought through the use of common training and training materials, have promoted the sharing of the views of border guards and the creation of a professional community at the European level. This implies that the way that policies are implemented on the ground is largely shifting toward convergence. It is also identified that what supports the high degree of participation in Frontex training is the understanding of Member States that participation converges with their interests in relation to others in the same field.

Tracing the determinants of economic cross-border interaction in the European Union

The abolition of the artificial impediments of cross-border interaction inside the European Union, has released dynamics that have influenced significantly the economic space at the frontiers. In contrast, at the European Union external borders, the constraints concerning cross-border interaction with third countries have become more tangible in the sphere of reality. Under this framework, a new mix of opportunities and the threats seems to come forth together with a new political, social and economic map that redefines the notion of vicinity. In the present article, the study of the 'border effect' in Europe is attempted through the investigation of the basic determinants of the spatial dynamics of cross-border interaction. The findings of the article contribute to the better understanding of the 'border effect' with significant implications for both theory and policy.

Investigating Non-Governmental Organisations Cooperating Across the European Union External Border. Examples from Polish-Russian (Kaliningrad Oblast) And Polish-Ukrainian Border Regions

The aim of the paper is to recognize and to assess the scope of Non-Governmental Organisations cooperating across the Polish Eastern border. Non-Governmental Organisations as the vital element of civil society may play a significant role in stimulating social and economic relations between citizens from bordering countries. This paper is focused on the Polish - Russian (Kaliningrad Oblast) and Polish - Ukrainian border region and is based on empirical data from over 150 questionnaire surveys conducted on both sides of the border. The gathered information shows not only how organisations operate but also partly indicates the nature of local border society.