Since the beginning of last week, the Schengen area has a wound in its heart, which is in the shape of Germany, writes the online edition of "Economist". On September 16, Europe's most populous country reinstated border controls on all its borders, initially for a period of six months, but possibly for longer. For those in Europe who seek an ever-closer union, this raising of fences in a country at the center of the continent bodes ill for one of the EU's most significant achievements - freedom of movement, the paper notes. .
The new measures are another blow against a system that may not last much longer, commented "Economist". Like other major European projects, such as the euro or the single market, the Schengen area requires each national government to trust that the rest of the union will follow the rules. Increasingly, this is not the case. This is especially true when it comes to migration, which worries voters (and therefore politicians) from Athens to Dublin. Germany reintroduced the restrictions not because it is worried about welcoming the Danes or the French. Rather, it has lost faith in its neighboring countries guarding their own borders and believes they are too willing to let in migrants from further afield who then make their way to Germany.
The continued flow of migrants into Europe, which the authorities seem powerless to stop, is fertile ground for far-right politicians who are stepping up their rhetoric against both migrants and the EU. Germany's measures on the Schengen area come amid a sharp increase in support for the "Alternative to Germany" - a xenophobic party that performed well in recent local elections in some individual provinces.
In theory, Germany could apply the already existing safeguards provided for in the Schengen Agreement. Illegal migrants found to have crossed internal European borders can be turned back to the first EU country they set foot in, which must either grant them asylum or send them back to their place of origin . In practice, however, the system does not work. Countries that have to take back migrants, such as Italy, Greece and Hungary, say they cannot cope with the huge migration pressure. The strengthening of the pan-European border force "Frontex" since 2016 has resulted in only minor change. The wide-ranging "pact on migration" agreed last year aims to improve the situation, for example by building facilities at EU borders to quickly process illegal arrivals (thus sending many of them home before they can to continue to places like Germany). However, it is at least two years away from its full implementation, and the parliamentary elections in Germany are next year.
This is how the German decision to introduce border controls came about, which disappointed many European interior ministers. It is contrary to the spirit of the Schengen Agreement and even to some of its formal rules. In theory, the cessation of border crossing without checks is only allowed for a period of up to six months. In practice, however, some countries, such as France and Denmark, have been applying these "temporary" restrictions. Many observers fear that Germany will do the same. The EU authorities in Brussels should be protesting, but are tacitly allowing countries to resume control in the hope of preserving the overall system.
One of the results of the German decision, however, will almost certainly be a chain reaction in the entire bloc, commented the magazine "Foreign Policy". This is exactly what Walter Turnauski, an expert on migration in the Danish German-language newspaper "Nordschleswiger", fears. (Nordschleswiger). "The officially announced German border control is also temporary, but ultimately it means the end of free travel in the EU," he says. "From now on, governments will claim: 'Look, Germany also controls its borders,' so they will do the same," adds Tarnauski.
Poland nevertheless criticized the decision because of the prospect of congestion at the borders, which will hinder commercial and private transport, states "Foreign Policy". Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the German move represented a "de facto suspension of the Schengen agreement on a large scale".
However, other European countries do not just intend to follow the example of Germany, but even want to go further, notes "Euroactive". Prime Minister Dick Schoof's new Dutch government program reflects the hard-line anti-migration campaign stance of the main parties, outlining a comprehensive plan for radical reform of the Netherlands' asylum system and calling for the country to be allowed to opt out of EU migration policies.
The program reiterates the tough stance on migration that dominated campaign rhetoric and outlines a broad package of measures aimed at radically reforming the asylum system, citing "pressure on housing, health and education" as a threat to social cohesion and security.
A key element of the strategy is aimed at action at European level, including regulatory reforms and international treaties, as the government plans to take the matter to Brussels "as soon as possible" to achieve a "opt-out option the European regulations in the field of asylum and migration".
In addition to Germany, other members of the Schengen area currently control some of their borders, the Guardian points out. Austria, for example, cites security threats related to Ukraine, as well as pressure from asylum seekers, to screen travelers arriving from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary.
Denmark, citing terrorist threats linked to the war in the Gaza Strip as well as the risk of Russian espionage, also carries out checks on land and sea transport from Germany, and France checks arrivals from the Schengen area on the grounds of an increased terrorist threat.
Italy, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and Finland also carry out border checks, citing terrorist activity, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Russian intelligence activity, increased migration flows and organized crime in the Balkans.
Although immigration policies and subsequent asylum procedures, for example, are managed by EU member states at national level, free movement in Europe is an easy target for politicians and the message "We will take back control of the borders!" is an effective campaign slogan, comments the "Guardian".
The publication quoted Alberto Alemanno, a professor of European law at the Paris Higher School of Commerce, who said the establishment of border controls in Germany "represents a clear and disproportionate violation of the principle of free movement within the Schengen area".
Gerald Knaus, chairman of the think tank "European Stability Initiative", also questions the efficacy of the measure. "Establishing effective internal border control would mean the end of Schengen," he believes.
Effective border control would require permanent border guarding by a federal service, as well as building "fences around Germany” and furthermore, these measures "will fail if the neighbors are not interested in participating," explains Knaus.
After the EU finally managed to reach an agreement earlier this year on a long-debated reform of asylum and migration laws, European unity could be severely tested if Germany asks its neighbors to take them back a large number of people. Austria has already said it will refuse to take back migrants granted asylum at the German border. Against the background of this tension, only time will tell whether the German measure will really be temporary or whether Europe is about to say goodbye to the right to travel freely, concludes the Guardian.