2015 EMN Conference - The migrant crisis and the challenges facing the Schengen Area in the eyes of experts, European institutions and border management professionals
The EMN Conference 2015 adressed the challenges the Schengen area is facing
On 7 October 2015, the 2015 European Migration Network (EMN) Conference was held at the University of Luxembourg in Belval with the title '30 years of the Schengen Area'. The future of Schengen: challenges and opportunities'. The conference enabled a review of the development prospects for the Schengen Area and border management in view of the challenges posed by the migrant crisis.
At the start of the conference, the participants discussed the Schengen Acquis. Charles Elsen, Honorary Director General at the General Secretariat of the Council of the EU and one of the architects of the agreement, presented a short history of the Schengen Area, describing it as 'makeshift legal project' with 'certain weaknesses'.
An initial Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985 between five countries (Benelux countries, France and West Germany) targeting a gradual abolition of border checks. In 1990, these countries signed the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement, which contained a series of provisions designed to compensate for the abolition of border checks through greater cooperation in the fields of the movement of people (visas, immigration, asylum). This agreement came into force in 1995. In 1999, the Schengen Agreement was integrated into the EU's legal framework, after the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam.
Speaking against requests for the re-establishment of borders, Charles Elsen focused on the statistics: about 1.25 billion interior border crossings (namely about three million per day) and about 16 million Schengen visas issued in 2014, including two million to Chinese tourists.
Matthias Ruete, Director General of the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission, highlighted that the EU is facing an 'unprecedented crisis' with 'unprecedented' flows of refugees and migrants for which the 'current system was not designed'. The European official highlighted the responsibility of each Member State to manage its external borders and on the need to ensure that the initital system is 're-established', a reference to the temporary re-establishment of border checks by Germany, Austria and Slovenia in September, authorised by Article 25 of the Schengen Borders Code. He emphasised the need to apply refugee relocation mechanisms, or else border checks will be reintroduced and 'the Schengen Area will be dead'.
'We need better border protection', he declared. He deems that the EU is currently paying the price of not having built a system of shared responsibilities earlier. He believes that it is one of the most important institutional challenges of the past thirty years and that this crisis has 'all makings of driving institutions apart'. According to him, the European Commission and certain Member States are committed to developing 'the next steps' towards European integration and a more integrated policy, but that will depend on Member States' desire to give up their sovereignty.
Fabrice Leggeri, the Executive Director of the border management agency Frontex insisted on recalling that the agency is linked 'indissolubly to free movement' and that it wants to be a 'tool for free movement'. He praised the 'real awareness on a political level' of the challenges and hailed the increase in Frontex's budget from €95 million to €142 million in 2015, and from €172 to €240 million for 2016.
710,000 illegal border crossings into the EU by the end of September, an 'unprecedented' number
The Director of Frontex indicated that there were 710,000 illegal border crossings into the EU by the end of September, an 'unprecedented' number, about half of which arrive via Greece (via Turkey). As an example, he noted that 100,000 border crossings were registered between 15 and 30 September 2015 in Croatia. 'No individual Member State can face alone such a situation. The problem is not the Schengen Agreement, but the situation in countries of origin', he declared. He recalled that Frontex had just asked Member States to assign 775 additional border guards in order to support the countries most affected, i.e. Italy and Greece, according to him a 'historic turning point'.
For the Director of Frontex, 'more integrated border management' and 'greater operational cooperation' are required. He criticised the fact that, despite a common legal framework, the EU is not able to send border guards everywhere they were needed. In reply to a question from the public, he explained that a reinforcement of external border checks did not mean 'that we want to prevent asylum seekers from entering', but that it was necessary to avoid illegal border crossings 'for the good of people seeking protection' and ensure that each person entering the Schengen Area is registered.
Elspeth Guild, a laywer at Queen Mary University of London, criticised the lack of means for legal entries into the EU, which, according to her, forces refugees to employ the services of traffickers and undertake dangerous journeys. In particular, she criticised the Carrier sanction system applied to airline companies which are obliged to refuse to transport asylum seekers without visas. The researcher also insisted on the importance of applying in full the directive on the directive laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection. In the absence of this, relocation will fail because refugees will not remain in a country where they are 'treated like dirt'.
Part of the conference was devoted to the issue of borders. Laurent Muschel, the Director of Migration and Asylum at the European Commission, underlined the importance of the full implementation of the existing rules of the Schengen Agreement. 'If we want to preserve the Schengen Area, we must reinforce external borders', he declared.
The migrant crisis should not serve as a pretext to re-establish internal border checks, which should be properly justified and proportional, he insisted, declaring that border checks 'are not the only solution to this crisis'. He asked for a 'return to normal as soon as possible' and insisted on the need to apply the Dublin Regulation and register migrants. 'We must know who is entering the EU', he stated.
Laurent Muschel also highlighted the importance of an effective return policy. Only 40% of asylum seekers whose application has been rejected are sent back to their country of origin, a pull factor according to him.
The issue of the extension of Frontex's competences
Bernard Siffert, an official of the border police in France, believes that the reintroduction of borders would pose huge logistical challenges. According to him, it would be necessary to double the police force's numbers only for a 'relatively limited result', because 'nothing prevents migrants from avoiding authorised passing points'. Although he believes that there would be no consensus on a European Corps of Border Guards, he appealed for a change to a more integrated system and an extension of Frontex's competences with regard to those of Member States. 'The Schengen Area is suffering from a lack of harmonisation because of national resistance. It is urgent that we standardise practices', he declared. Bernard Siffert insisted again on a better return policy and cooperation with non-Member States and the need for the EU to generalise readmission agreements.
The researcher Catherine Wihtol de Wenden (CNRS, Sciences Po - French Institute of Scientific Research) pointed out that the return of asylum seekers who have been turned down 'rarely constitutes a factor in the development' of countries of origin, in view of the major financial transfers by those who remain in the EU. Speaking against a reinforcement of borders, she believes that a strategy of dissuasion and repression 'has not yet dissuaded anybody' and pleaded for more legal entry routes.
Eugenio Ambrosi, Regional Director for the EEE, the EU and NATO at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), denounced the lack of solidarity and a common approach by Member States, believing that it was necessary to 'oblige' them to show solidarity. In terms of the mechanism for relocating 120,000 people, approved by a qualified majority by the JHA Council and 'discussed for the past year and a half', Eugenio Ambrosi underlined the fact that 'it is much more than the Member States were prepared to accept', referring to a difference between the desire of the European Commission and 'what the Member States accept on their territory'. He also insisted on the need to tackle the problem of black market labour which attracts migrants. According to him, we should not expect too much from cooperation with non-Member States which, themselves, are faced with 'huge migration challenges' or displaced persons within their country (such as Nigeria).
In conclusion, Francesco Maiani, a legal expert at Lausanne University, pointed out that the EU is faced with an 'unprecedented crisis' and that it is necessary to reinforce the implementation of the legal framework in place. He warned against the language used: 'Europe is not the continent with the biggest challenges', he insisted, in reference to Turkey (78 million inhabitants) and Lebanon (4 million), which, alone have welcomed three million refugees, while the EU (500 million inhabitants) are planning to welcome a million refugees.
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