Link: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/22/brussels-attacks-can-europe-keep-its-open-borders.html
After the attacks in Belgium that claimed the lives of at least 31 people, border checks were reintroduced. This questioned what will happen in the future for border policies in Europe. In Europe, many countries are a part of the Schengen Agreement. This Schengen Agreement was signed in 1985, and allows travelers to cross borders of these countries without immigration controls or passport checks. This agreement involves 22 Europe countries currently, as well as four European Free Trade Association member states. Open borders in the European area is very important for productivity. About 1.7 million people cross European borders every day to get to work. A study constructed by a German research institute called Bertelsmann Stiftung forecasted last month that increased border controls would cost Germany, which is Europe's biggest economy, about 77 billion euros ($86.3 billion) between now and 2025. Germany would be hit particularly hard if the Schengen agreement were dissolved because it is surrounded by Schengen countries. To be able to reintroduce border controls, countries must submit a request to European Commission. The website of the European Commission describes this move as a "step of last resort and would be used only if all other measures were ineffective in mitigating a serious threat." And although the European Commission has the legal tools to punish countries who reintroduced border controls without requesting it, it is unlikely that they will.
I think it's unlikely that border restrictions will be completely reintroduced as a result of the attacks in Brussels. I do think we can expect to see border controls tighten a bit though, as this was the second attack on European soil in the last 6 months.
ReplyDeleteI agree with doug. Even though these were atrocious attacks, closing borders only does what the planners of these attacks want the EU to do. While closing borders might be the politically popular policy, the EU and the rest of the world cannot risk entering into economic recessions in reactions to these events.
ReplyDeleteInstead of the disolution of the Schengen Agreement, it may be a good idea to instead have all Euro nations pay to have border checks administered at the countries that come in contact with immigrants from other coninents, so basically, have border checks on the euro nations borders. This would placate those calling for immigration reforms and border checks, brining about some extra secutrity until the massive influx of immigrants starts to slow down, while costing less (theoretically) if they had instead had border checks at every country again.
ReplyDeleteThe only question is, who guards the borders, how is it paid for, where are the major check points, etc.
It may just be better to leave the borders as is, seeing as like with economics, the law makers/immigration offices right now in Europe doesn't have the convenient ability to have a control to see what the effects this type of resulution would have in the long run. There is no chance to test out various theories, only go over models and guesstimate really.
I believe that with all the violence going on in the world, as well as the large immigration of middle easterners and Muslims into Europe, will lead European countries to tighten down on border controls. It will be interesting to see how the European countries will implement these policies due to the cost, which the article shows. Also, they will need to develop an efficient and fast way of doing so because of how many people cross boarders on a daily basis. If these policies go into effect we could see new trading regulations as well, which will be interesting to see of any of this will have affect between the US and the EU in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI question if it would be worth it for European countries to reintroduce border checks. As you said, it would be quite costly for the countries and I wonder if it would even do much to prevent more terrorist attacks from happening. It seems that if someone wants to commit such an act, they will find a way to do it, regardless if there are border checks or not.
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