The end of Schengen? What border controls could mean for Europeans

by Flavia Faraone, 2 minutes read

On November 13th, the Dutch government announced that it would strengthen border controls with its neighboring countries, Belgium and Germany. The restrictions will be put into force on December 9th and will remain in place for the following six months at least. The controls will be carried out in order to limit migrants’ access to the country. The three countries are all part of the Schengen area, which t guarantees free movement of people and goods and which involves almost all of the European Union member States.

The Netherlands are not the only country to  have increased border controls on its frontiers over the years. This trend has actually been growing  since late 2015; in the last few months, the number of States suspending the Schengen agreement freedoms has grown to nine. This behavior has been criticised by the other member states’ governments and has been described as a crisis of the Shengen system.

According to European norms, the freedom of movement granted by the Schengen treaty can be suspended only as a last resort measure, or in exceptional situations, such as the Covid-19 crisis. The controls resulting from a suspension of the Schengen agreement can be systematic, but they are usually random: for this reason, the governments are being accused of using them as mere propaganda. This might also be confirmed by looking at the reasons presented by each member State to the European Commission for temporarily suspending the agreement: many mention “irregular immigration” to describe a migration flux that is mostly composed of refugees. Refugees are legally allowed to stay in a country, unless their application is denied.
The Schengen agreement has been described as “one of the crown jewels of European integration”; 420 million EU citizens enjoy its rights, and about 500 million travelers a year make use of its benefits. Although the Commission has said that controls do not affect everyone, especially not commuters and goods vehicles, the trend of the last nine years could still lead to something more serious. It might be a dangerous precedent for border controls to be used as a political tool, especially as a way to spread misinformation about fragile social groups. The aim of inspiring mistrust towards someone coming from beyond the national borders is fairly obvious here. One is left wondering how long it will be before suspicions are directed at any political adversary coming from abroad.