26 April 2011
Italy and France have recently approached the European Commission to ‘investigate’ the Schengen Treaty. Both countries are facing the consequences of significant unregulated migration – primarily from North Africa and as a result of the recent political upheavals – which threatens to undermine EU solidarity and a key pillar of the Union’s edifice.
The importance of this development should not be understated. Like the Euro, the Schengen Treaty is a fundamental instrument of the Union and any suggestion that it requires re-calibration sends shivers down the spines of EU officials. Indeed, so critical is the efficacy of the system that Paris and Berlin continue to deny entry to two existing EU members, Bulgaria and Romania, on the basis that their judicial and police systems remain weak. Why then, the sudden concern of Sarkozy and Berlusconi?
The answer lies in the politics of immigration. For many years, Europe’s political elite encouraged immigration – partly in response to perceived economic drivers but also in line with so-called ‘progressive liberal thinking’. Additionally, recent interpretations of international human rights legislation has seemingly made it more difficult to remove illegal immigrants or asylum seekers once they have managed to enter the EU.
However, over recent months and in particularly after the global economic crash, such views are tantamount to political suicide. The rise of formerly marginalised political parties with a focus on curbing immigration has been nothing short of astonishing as the latest election results in the Netherlands and Finland demonstrate. Ordinary citizens across Europe – the majority of whom would never consider themselves xenophobic – fail to see why immigration is needed when approximately 26 million Europeans are unemployed, many of them young.
Senior political figures from Cameron to Merkel to Sarkozy have also queued up to issue the last rights to multiculturalism and clearly recognise that a watershed in immigration policies has been reached.
Unfortunately for Europe, the latest ‘immigration’ blip is no such thing. The truth is probably more disconcerting. The numbers of people wishing to leave North Africa and other Arab states as a result of political and economic dislocation is immense. Greater still, are the numbers of sub-Saharan Africans who are daily pushing northwards, many being held in reception camps in Chad and Libya whilst others are staging towards ports on the West African coast and waiting for an opportunity to sail to Europe. This phenomenon is mass migration and it is a trend, not a blip.
As Europe struggles to deal with the legacy of its recent failed immigration policies, the likelihood of communal strive between traditional communities and newcomers will increase and with it resentment towards those European governments that allowed it to happen in the first place. Economic hardship will inevitably sharpen the discomfort of all.
Tinkering with the Schengen Treaty will not solve the problem. Only hard political choices, including the illiberal idea of subsidising transit countries to prevent migrants passing and building soviet-style border security systems might satisfy European electorates. The actions of Paris and Rome might yet become the opening shots in a very prolonged conflict.