“Right now in the European Union, each country is doing what it wants.” This statement from a truck driver who has to deal with the controls and requirements of each European nation every day in order to get his load to its destination sums up the feeling not only of transporters, but also of politicians in Europe.
Germany decided this month to seal off its nearly 4,000 kilometres of land borders. For six months, those trying to reach the country by road face Fixed or mobile police controls and the operation began to reject migrants who were trying to cross without having their papers in order.
The government led by Olaf Scholz claims to have a stronger grip on irregular migration and threats to internal security, including terrorism and cross-border crime.
The number of asylum applications in Germany are equal to the total for France and Italy combined, the other two large countries in the bloc.
Data from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, show that during the summer of 2015, around 890,000 people from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in Europe’s largest economy.
The war in Ukraine also spurred an influx of refugees.
In March this year, around 1.3 million people with Ukrainian citizenship lived in Germany, according to government data, and many They receive the basic unemployment benefit, known as Bürgergeld or citizen’s incomeCentre-right parties are already putting pressure on the government to withdraw this aid.
This increase in migration boosted the growth of far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a new far-left party.
Opinion polls showed that immigration was one of the main reasons for voting for these parties in the elections in the federal state of Thuringia and in Saxony.
Appeasing the far right
“Border controls clearly respond to the pressure of the electoral results of the last elections”But if Europe wants to continue moving towards integration, it will have to face its greatest challenge, which is the migration problem,” explains Javier Díaz Giménez, professor of Economics at IESE Business School.
“It is an issue that goes beyond the economic or social. It is a very complex issue that It often awakens contradictory emotions. Europe needs labour and there are many ways to fill this gap.”
According to data from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in the first six months of 2024, there was a significant increase in the number of migrants arriving from Spain.Irregular border crossings at the EU’s eastern land borders, up by 148% to over 6,700. The vast majority of people detected on this route were Ukrainian citizens.
In this context, Berlin announced that the controls on its border with Austria, which had been in place since 2015 and with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since last year, would be extended to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.
The decision hit the heart of Europe as Germany is not only the economic engine of the area, it is also the state that shares borders with the most countries: nine. Experts fear that the growth and prosperity of all EU states is at risk.
His unilateral decision, experts say, threatens one of the founding pillars of Europe: the Schengen areawhich allows the movement of citizens and goods without a passport. Created in 1985, it includes 25 of the 27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, as associated countries.
According to the rules of the Schengen agreement, countries can establish temporary border controls in exceptional circumstances. After a period of six months, temporary controls must be withdrawn or extended after notification to Europe.
“The free movement of people within the European Union is One of the rights most valued by European citizensAccording to the European Parliament, more than 1.25 billion trips are made within the Schengen area every year,” explains Marie-José Garot, director of the Center for European Studies at IE University.
“In the German case, internal border controls will affect both European citizens and citizens of third countries,” he added.
But Germany is not the only country to have implemented a measure of this magnitude. Seven other European nations have some form of border surveillance.
Also France, Italy or Norway
Austria established controls with its eastern and southern neighbours, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Hungary, citing “high migratory pressure” as well as the fight against terrorism. At the same time, it warned that it will not accept migrants turned away at the German border.
Denmark also strengthened security at all internal borders, especially those with Germany. Although technically a temporary measure, it has been extended many times and has been in force in some form since 2016. These extensions prompted Brussels to launch a review of its legality.
Major international events that require a lot of security, such as the Olympic Games held in France this summer or the G7 summit in Italy, They served as an excuse for both countries to reinforce security and postpone controls until the last quarter of the year.
Like Sweden, Both nations claim terrorist threats and migratory pressure on their external borders due to the war in Ukraine and also in Gaza.
Slovenia has controls with its neighbors Croatia and Hungary, while Norway, which is not part of the European Union, is restricted from entering ports that are part of the Schengen area.
Oslo said the move was intended to “increase the security of Norway’s onshore and offshore oil and gas facilities in light of the rupture of the Nord Stream pipeline.”
The incident at the underwater structure “underscored the importance of protecting this critical infrastructure.”
The fight against illegal immigration can be carried out “with less drastic measures”, say several European politicians. But while Europe works on a solution, The transport of goods is the first to suffer the consequences.
The controls imposed by Germany at its borders are not causing major disruption. “There are occasional traffic jams,” say those who have passed through there, but little else. Complaints are more related to the obstacle to free movement.
Same space, different rules
“It is not normal that we are in the European Union and Spain goes one way. Germany imposes certain requirements, France does the same. To cross Europe, trucks have to have a lot of paperwork and Each one is different depending on the country. This should not be the case.“Yes,” says Samuel Rico, CEO and managing director of TCR Group, an international road transport company.
“The Schengen area is seriously questioned”These issues should be resolved collectively, not individually,” believes Díaz Giménez.
Alberto Ares Mateos, a doctor in International Migration and Development Cooperation from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas and director of the JRS Europe refugee aid network, agrees with him.
“Western economies have put the spotlight on irregular entries across our borders. It is the discourse of the extreme right parties in Europe, they have managed to inject that fear into the entire social and political sphere,” he says.
Safety first, above the economy
Another surprising factor is that, despite the period of economic weakness that Germany and the European Union in general are going through, governments have put security above the economy.
A 2016 Bertelsmann Foundation report claimed that reintroducing internal border controls would cost Europe about 470 billion in losses in growth over ten years.
And Evofenedex, an association of Dutch transporters, estimates that the economic cost will rise to tens of millions of euros by 2024 because long waits at borders could breaking supply chains and causing delays in the delivery of goods urgent, especially fresh products.
Although the border closure is not hermetic, it does demonstrate that the global political landscape is fragmenting and nations are turning in on themselves. Recent border controls in Germany and other countries underline this change.
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