There is information that, because it does not appear on the cover, nor in large print, but rather as one piece of information among dozens of others, seems inconsequential, although it is of great relevance. This is the case of Germany’s decision to establish controls at its borders for people and goods.leaving the Schengen Agreement void.
He Schengen Agreement, in force since 1995is an agreement between 29 European countries by which internal border controls between these countries for people and goods are abolished, moving controls to external borders with third countries. All signatory countries must apply common rules on external border controls, as well as on visas.
According to the European Commission itself, “the Schengen Agreement is one of the major achievements of the European project and is designed to be the cornerstone of the European Union and the entire single market.” Thanks to the agreement, 420 million people They can travel freely between member countries without passing through border controls and, in addition, the transit of goods between all these countries is facilitated and accelerated.
The Schengen Area includes all EU countries (except Romania and Bulgaria), Switzerland, Iceland and Norway. It has been working perfectly for 25 yearswith extraordinary moments like the 2015 refugee crisis or the Covid lockdowns.
Today, for the first time, a country, and not just any country, with the exception of Germany, has unilaterally decided to suspend the application of the agreement for at least six months, by reintroducing border controls. The measure came into force on Monday, September 16.
The seriousness of the measure is undeniable, and the derivatives it can generate are unpredictable and in no way positive. According to the German Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, the reason for the adoption of this extraordinary decision is the protection of Germany. in the face of radical Islam and the control of illegal immigration.
The problem created by the unilateral rupture of the Schengen Agreement by one of its member countries is the domino effect or cascade effect that this can cause, starting with its neighboring countries. In fact, Austria has already announced that it will not take in immigrants rejected by Germany.
If the number of these immigrants rejected by Germany increases, it is only a matter of time before Austria ends up imitating Germany and also imposing border controls. If this were the case, and given that no country around Germany has the capacity or the political will to absorb large numbers of immigrants, countries like Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland or the Czech Republic would imitate the Germans and impose border controls. Switzerland, which although not a member of the EU, is a member of the Schengen area, would take the same measure.
At present, border controls on trucks and transport vehicles are random.but in any case they represent a disadvantage for the transport of goods.
The measure consists of breaking a Status quo in the free movement of people and goods across Europe which, as the European Commission mentions on its own website,and considered a pillar of European construction. If a pillar fails, measures will have to be taken to consolidate the building.
Whether we like it or not, and even if it is not making headlines at the moment, the German decision to suspend the application of the Schengen agreements will make The problem of illegal immigration in Europe is becoming a priority issue. For the moment, the news has gone almost unnoticed by the vast majority, but it is very relevant and represents a dangerous precedent for the European project.
