European Parliament opposes reintroduction of border controls

[News_Editor]

European Parliament opposes reintroduction of border controls

2011-07-08 04:11:11 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Parliament on Thursday strongly opposed the reintroduction of the border controls within the Schengen area, the borderless zone encircling the 27 countries of the European Union.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) passed a resolution on the planned changes to the Schengen Treaty alleging that the mass influx of migrants and asylum seekers do not justify them.

Some EU Member States have previously requested changes to the Schengen rules such as reintroducing border controls in the current borderless area due to the massive arrival of North African migrants to southern Europe, mostly to Italy.

On 24 June, the European Council asked the Commission to present a proposal in September on a safeguard mechanism to deal with "exceptional circumstances" of this kind. The measure is currently on discussion.

In the Parliament's resolution, MEPs criticized the proposed measure and remarked that they will only accept those new objectives that seek enhancing freedom of movement and reinforcing EU governance of the Schengen area.

The current Schengen Borders Code provides the possibility of reintroducing internal border controls "only where there is a serious threat to public policy or internal security." MEPs pointed out that the proposed exemptions will definitely not reinforce the system.

"The recent problems with Schengen are rooted in a reluctance to implement common European policies in other fields, most crucially a common European asylum and migration system," read the MEPs' resolution.

A new Common European Asylum System is expected to be established in 2012. It will be more Community-oriented, based on a European approach and with the involvement of the EU institutions, as opposed to a purely intergovernmental one.

The Schengen area was created to establish a common external border which the EU is responsible to manage it. However, the EU has not yet fully complied with this requirement.

"It is clear that the EU needs a strong common asylum and migration policy. This has only become more evident in recent months, in view of the historic events taking place in North Africa," said Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner of Home Affairs, in May.

France and Italy have strongly called for changes in the Schengen rules. So far, the EU has allocated funds to manage the humanitarian emergency generated by the asylum seekers; FRONTEX launched a Joint Operation (EPN Hermes Extension 2011), aimed at helping Italy deal with the situation of migrants and refugees coming to Italian shores; and EUROPOL sent a team of experts to support law enforcement agencies.

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