Arab Spring sparks review of symbolic EU border-free area
EU borders
(BRUSSELS) - The EU was poised to reinstate border checkpoints and deploy a new corps of frontier guards as fears of a north Africa migrant deluge triggered a review Wednesday of the bloc's passport-free Schengen accord.
Facing mounting controversy over the 25-year deal allowing unchecked travel across 25 European nations, a signature European Union achievement, the 27-state bloc is to look in the coming weeks at a range of proposed reforms unveiled by its executive arm.
Among suggestions from Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem is the re-introduction of internal border controls "in exceptional circumstances" -- such as "where a part of the external border comes under heavy unexpected pressure."
That could mean controls returning, for instance, to the French-Italian frontier.
That is a response both to fears of a looming 'human exodus' from the strife in Libya and pro-democracy uprisings across North Africa, as well as to the increasingly porous Greek border on Schengen's south-eastern flank.
The long Greek border, EU officials say, is now a favourite entry point for busloads of migrant wannabes from the world over, able to pay low-discount airfares into visa-free Turkey.
Another idea to be put to EU ministers May 12 and a summit late June in moves to intensify policing of Schengen's external frontiers will be the creation of a European system of border guards.
First signed in 1985 as a giant step towards European integration, the Schengen agreement has come into the line of fire as divided EU nations squabble over how to deal with a sudden influx of migrants notably from north Africa.
"Schengen is a fantastic achievement in Europe. We should protect it, we should defend it," Malmstroem told a news conference. "But it can be improved."
"We are seeing exceptional events across the Mediterranean," she added.
Warmly embraced from the outset by the EU, the political upheavals in the bloc's southern backyard have sent some 25,000 Tunisians crossing by boat to Italy in search of a better life in Europe, and particularly France.
Though only a trickle in an area encompassing some 400 million people, the boatpeople caused an ugly spat last month between France and Italy and reinforced calls for a rethink on Schengen in a continent where far-right populist parties are on the march.
"We need European leadership that can stand up against populistic and simplistic solutions," Malmstroem said.
Thousands of largely French-speaking Tunisians have crossed from Italy to France armed with temporary papers issued by Italian authorities enabling them to move freely within the Schengen area.
France responded by stopping trains from Italy carrying immigrants, citing risks to public order, and called for changes to the Schengen accord to allow the government to suspend unfettered travel.
After a summit late last month, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urged the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, to reform the Schengen area.
Currently, the treaty allows a country to restore border controls only in the case of a "grave threat to public order or internal security" -- measures that have seen passport checks restored temporarily for example to stop hooligans heading for football games, or protesters heading for summits.
"Secure borders does not mean we are building a fortress Europe," Malmstrom said.
Fears that Europe's poorly-policed internal borders may also facilitate criminal activities have seen Paris and Berlin refuse to allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen area until they clean up corruption.
Malmstroem's proposals also include better asylum policies, targeted immigration to facilite the influx of skilled workers and a joint approach to returning irregular migrants to home countries.
But her calls for increased funding for the tiny pan-European Frontex border agency currently based in Warsaw may face problems in belt-tightened Europe.